THE 

TWO  MINUTE  ^ 


M^^^. 


o 


3  9090  013  401    506 


Webster  Family  Library  of  Veterinary  Medicim 
Cummincjs  Schooi  of  Veterinary  Medicine  at 
Tufts  University 


THE  TWO-MINUTE  HORSE 


Lou  Dillon  1:58M»— Millard  Sanders 


THE  TWO-MINUTE  HORSE 


A  History  of  the  six  Two-Minute  Trotters 

AND    THE    FOURTEEN    TwO-MlNUTE    PaCERS 
TO   THE    CLOSE    OF    THE    YEAR    1921 


Published  by  MILLARD  SANDERS 


Copyright  1922 
First  Edition  Printed   March  1922 


Press  of  The  Judson  Company 
cleveland,  ohio 


Millard  Sanders — 1902 


CONTENTS 


Page 

Arion  Guy  1:59U    (Thos.  W.  Murphy) _. ..-  87 

Audubon  Boy  l:59Vi  (J.  Y.  Gatcomb,  R.  S-ott  Hudson) 127 

Dan  Patch  1:55^4   (Harry  Hersey,  M.  E.  McHenry ) 115 

Directu:m  I  l:56-'4   (Thos.  W.  Murphy,  Raymond  Snedeker  t 155 

Frank  Bogash,  Jr.  1:5914   (Thos.  W.  Murphy) -  141 

Lee  Axworthy  1:58^4   <Ben  F.  White.  W.  J.  Andrews) 61 

Lou  Dillon  1:581/>   (Millard  F.  Sanders) 13 

Louie  Grattan   2:00    (Victor   Flemins) -. 195 

Major  Delmar  1:59')4    (Alta  McDonald) 31 

Minor  Heir  1:59   (Harry  Hersey,  Chas.  Dean) 133 

Miss  Harris  M.  1:5814  (Thos.  W.  Murphy,  Alonzo  McDonald)  ...  179 

Napoleon  Direct  1:59';4   (E.  F.  Geers  1 173 

Peter  M-\nning  1:57%   (Thos.  W.  Murphy,  Harry  Putnam) 73 

Prince  Alert  1:59^  o    (Mart  Demarest) 109 

Prince  Loree  2:00   (  M.  McDevitt) _ 187 

Sanardo   1:59%    (Thos.  W.  Murphy) 201 

Single  G    1:59  (Ed.  Allen,  Fred  Jamison,  Curt  Gosnell ) 161 

Star  Pointer  1:59^4   (D.  J.  McClary) 103 

Uhlan   1:58    (Chas.  Tanner,   Robert   Proctor)... 39 

William   1:5814    (William  W.  Marvin) 147 

Billings,  Mr.  C.  K.  G 209 

Final  Mile,  The   (Walter  Palmar  i 8 

World's  Champion  Two-Minute   Horse  Tr.\de 213 


THE  FINAL  MILE 

0  Mighty  Monarchs  of  the  Equine  Race, 

Just  when  will  come  the  zenith  of  your  flight? 
What  voice  will  guide  your  flying  feet  apace, 

And  prompt  you  in  your  crowning  trial  aright? 
What  deft  and  clever  wizard  of  the  reins 

Will   urge  you   onward  with  uncanny  hand? 
What  blood  will  course  within  your  royal  veins, 

And  who  will  view  your  triumphs  from  the  stand? 
What  of  the  track  and  where  the  test? 

When  will  you  reach  the  dizzy  heights  sublime? 
What  starting  judge  will  find  you  at  your  best, 

And  where  will  stop  the  second  hand  of  time? 

This  much  I  know,  your  freedom's  near 

From  toil  and  hardship  that  has  long  been  yours. 
And  to  supplant  them  there  will  soon  appear 

The  rare  devotion  that  so  long  endures. 
And  you,  divorced  from  baser  parts. 

From  war,  and  strife,  and  greed  and  pelf, 
Will  be  enshrined  within  the  hearts 

That  love  you  for  yourself. 
And  when  that  roseate  dav  shall  fall 

And  all  is  ready  for  the  final  mile, 

1  know  the  Great  Presiding  Judge  of  all 

Will  look  down  from  those  pearly  gates  and  smile. 

— Walter  Palmer. 


SCORING  FOR  THE  WORD 


N  preparing  this  volume  the  object  in  view  was, 
largely,  to  put  in  lasting  form  something  in  the  way 
of  a  brief  history  not  so  much  of  the  public  career 
of  the  trotters  and  pacers  that  have  taken  records  of  two 
minutes  or  better  (though  that  has  not  been  slighted)  as  of 
the  "making"  of  them. 

Of  these  trotters  and  pacers  there  are  (January,  1922) 
an  even  score,  of  which  six  are  trotters.  The  period  covered 
by  this  list  of  twenty  is  a  quarter  of  a  century — it  was  in 
1897  that  Star  Pointer,  driven  by  Dave  McCleary,  started 
the  two-minute  list  by  pacing  a  mile  in  1:591/4  at  Readville, 
Mass.,  over  the  same  track  on  which,  six  years  later,  Lou 
Dillon,  driven  by  Millard  Sanders,  with  a  mile  in  "even 
time"  instituted  the  two-minute  list  of  trotters. 

During  that  quarter  of  a  century,  either  by  developing 
the  horses  or  carrying  them  on  and  driving  them  to  their 
records,  a  notable  array  of  trainers  have  shone  in  their 
chosen  calling,  and  written  their  names  indelibly  on  th«^ 
scroll  of  fame  in  the  world  of  the  light-harness  horse. 

To  these  men,  as  well  as  to  the  breeders  and  owners  of 
the  two-minute  horses,  this  book  is  dedicated  and  it  is  meant 
to  be  a  tribute  of  respect  no  less  than  a  chronicle  of  the  deeds 
of  men  and  horses  and  a  story  of  how  these  great  performers 
were  trained  and  conditioned. 

No  attempt  has  been  made  to  go  too  deeply  into  details, 
this  work  concerning  itself  more  particularly  with  the  two- 
minute  portion  of  the  history  of  each  horse.     That  the  work 


lO  THE    TWO-MINUTE    TROTTERS 

has  its  defects  need  not  be  denied  but  they  are  minor  and 
that  the  volume  contains  much  of  great  value  is  equally  true. 

It  is  the  hope  of  him  who  conceived  it  that  it  may  present 
much  that  the  young  trainer,  perhaps  the  older  one  as  well, 
may  find  of  value  to  him  in  his  chosen  profession  for  it  is 
a  certainty  that  while  the  ambition  of  every  trainer  is,  pri- 
marily, to  develop  race  winners,  his  ever  abiding  hope  is 
that  some  day  he  may  have  the  high  honor  of  taking  before 
the  public  a  two-minute  horse. 

In  conclusion  it  is  fitting  that  every  one  who  has  assisted 
in  getting  together  the  data  for  this  volume  be  given  heart- 
felt thanks.  Without  that  kind  assistance  the  work  could 
not  have  been  done  at  all.  And  the  hope  is  indulged  that 
the  reception  of  the  volume  by  the  public  will  be  as  hearty 
as  was  the  response  of  those  who  were  asked  to  furnish  some 
of  the  material. 


THE   TWO-MINUTE   TROTTERS 


LOU  DILLON 

MAJOR  DELMAR 

UHLAN 

LEE  AXWORTHY 

PETER  MANNING 

ARION  GUY 


But  my  chestnut  mare  was  of  blood  so  rare 
That  she  showed  them  all  the  way. 

— Walter  Thornhury. 


=^ 


LOU   DILLON 

World's  Champion  Trotting  Mare 
Record  1:58^ 

RANK  TURNER,  of  the  Santa  Rosa  Stock  Farm, 
l)ridle-broke  the  great  mare  Lou  Dillon  when  she 
was  trying  out  baby  trots  at  her  mother's  side  and 
Millard  Sanders  was  her  maestro,  and  he  was  more  to  his 
noble  pupil.  He  passed  down  into  the  springs  of  her  being 
and  there  awoke  a  latent  thing  called  life;  he  flexed  her 
growing  muscles  and  taught  them  their  lightning  play  over 
the  surface  of  her  supple  limbs.  He  found  a  soul.  He 
calmed  her  when  she  was  impatient,  he  ruled  her  when  she 
w^as  wayward  and  with  the  infinite  tenderness  of  love  he 
lifted  her  out  of  the  crudities  of  youth  and  attuned  her  to 
action  faultless  and  marvelous.  He  became  a  part  of  her — 
an  elemental  blending  of  man  and  horse — a  new  creation 
vibrant  in  its  dual  unity;  and  in  that  grand  harmony  of  mind 
and  matter  she  trod  the  chords  arising  to  a  symphony  of 
wondrous  theme  and  tone,  and  the  rhythm  of  her  hoof -beats 
was  heard  around  the  world." 

This  rhapsody,  born  of  the  enthusiasm  of  the  moment, 
Tom  Gregory,  of  California  contributed  to  the  Santa  Rosa 
(Cal.)  Republican  at  the  time  Lou  Dillon  became  the  world's 
first  two-minute  trotter.  And  more  recently  "Markey"  said 
of  her: 

''Lou  Dillon  was  the  airiest,  most  buoyant  thing  of  flesh 
and  blood  that  has  ever  appeared  among  the  trotting  genus. 
Her  action,  poise  and  carriage  suggested  flying  rather  than 
trotting.  There  was  about  her  a  dash  and  spirit  which  no 
trotter,  not  even  the  superb  Uhlan,  could  hope  to  rival.     She 


14  THE    TWO-MINUTE    TROTTERS 

trotted  with  the  ease  and  facility  with  which  a  thoroughbred 
runs.  I  doubt  if  any  other  trotter  ever  gave  to  both  unin- 
itiated and  initiated  observers  such  thrills  as  did  the  little 
chestnut  mare." 

The  following  story  of  Lou  Dillon  was  prepared  recently 
by  Millard  Sanders,  who,  as  perhaps  everybody  knows, 
taught  her  from  colthood  and  made  her  the  first  two-minute 
trotter: 

"Before  beginning  the  story  of  Lou  Dillon  it  may,  per- 
haps, be  well  to  go  back  to  the  few  years  prior  to  her  advent 
and  note  what  the  opinion  was  as  to  the  probability  of  ever 
seeing  a  mile  trotted  in  two  minutes.  There  may  have  been 
some  among  the  many  thousands  of  horse  enthusiasts  who 
believed  such  a  thing  to  be  among  the  future  possibilities. 
But  as  I  recollect  it  they  were  very  few  and  scattering.  As 
a  matter  of  fact  I  do  not  recall  a  single  one  among  my  wide 
acquaintance  who  even  allowed  himself  to  dream  that  there 
ever  would  be  a  trotted  mile  in  two  minutes.  True,  in  1897, 
Star  Pointer  had  paced  a  mile  in  1:591/4  but  the  general 
belief  was  that  the  pacer  had  four  or  five  seconds  more  speed 
than  the  trotter — that  is,  the  pacing  gait  was  that  much  the 
speedier.  I  believe  it  had  been  'scientifically'  figured  out 
that  the  trotter  would  never  reach  the  two-minute  mark. 

"Those  who  were  not  active  in  the  field  of  the  trotter 
cannot  begin  to  imagine  the  furore  Lou  Dillon  created  all 
over  the  land,  all  over  the  world,  in  fact,  when  she  trotted 
in  two  minutes  at  Readville.  The  target  at  that  time  was 
the  2:021/4  world's  record  of  Cresceus  and  almost  any  owner 
would  have  been  delighted  to  have  his  horse  trot  a  mile  in 
2:02  for  that  would  have  given  him  the  championship.  My 
faith  in  the  coming  of  the  so-called  impossible  made  me  the 
subject  of  many  good-natured  jibes.  But  the  two-minute 
trotter  arrived  and  she  took  her  championship  honors,  not 
by  a  small  part  of  a  second  but  by  two  and  a  quarter  seconds. 
Naturally  that  wonderful  mile  was  a  great  event.  The  press 
acclaimed  it  and  the  horse  world  took  on  new  life  and  greater 
animation. 

"The  eff"ect  the  arrival  of  the  two-minute  trotter  had  upon 
the  men  who  had  long  been  identified  with  training  is  best 


LOU    DILLON  15 

illustrated  by  an  incident  which  occurred  at  Lexington,  Ky., 
the  fall  of  1903.  'Uncle'  George  J.  Fuller,  noted  as  the 
trainer  of  many  good  horses,  dating  his  career  back  to  the 
time  of  Scott's  Thomas  and  including  the  great  four-year-old 
Patron  2:1414^  came  to  my  stable  for  a  brief  visit.  When 
he  came  in  he  said  to  me:  'Millard,  I  came  from  my  home 
in  Tennessee,  to  see  what  I  never  expected  there  would  be — 
a  two-minute  trotter.  I  want  to  look  at  her  and  lay  my  hand 
on  her  and  then  I  will  be  content  to  go  back  to  my  home.' 
There  were  many  of  the  old  guard  who  felt  about  it  as  he 
did,  which  was  that  the  impossible  had  come  to  be  possible, 
but  when  it  came  to  pass  they  were  just  like  the  rest,  wildly 
enthusiastic  and  they  helped  make  me  believe  what  I  had 
done  was  worth  while. 

'T  first  saw  Lou  Dillon  at  Santa  Rosa  Stock  Farm.  She 
was  then  three  and  the  farm  trainer,  who  was  driving  her 
had  her  fitted  up  with  all  kinds  of  rope  rigging.  She  was  a 
great  one  to  shake  her  head  and  to  be  controlled  was  often 
thrown.  Mr.  Henrv  Pierce  came  to  me  and  asked  if  I  could 
drive  her  without  fighting  her  or  throwing  her.  I  did  not 
know  that  I  could  but  I  agreed  to  try  and  so  she  came  into 
my  hands.  I  harnessed  her  without  a  check,  drove  her  on 
the  road  for  a  while,  cured  her  of  her  worst  habits  and 
started  to  train  her  to  trot  the  spring  she  was  a  four-year-old. 
Almost  at  once  she  contracted  pneumonia  and  for  three 
weeks  lay  at  the  point  of  death,  coming  through  a  mere 
skeleton.  When  she  had  regained  some  of  her  strength  she 
was  again  put  in  training.  She  acted  kindly  but  she  would 
not  score — would  just  go  on  a  little  gallop  and  that  she  per- 
sisted in  for  nearly  a  month.  Then  I  made  up  my  mind  I 
had  to  do  something  to  cure  her  of  'acting  up'  when  she  was 
turned  at  the  wire.  This  was  at  the  Pleasanton  track  and  one 
day  there  I  tried  for  two  hours  to  get  her  away  on  a  trot.  No 
one  may  believe  it  but  in  all  that  time  I  did  not  lose  my 
temper  for  as  much  as  an  instant.  I  then  drove  her  off  the 
track  and  into  the  stable  and  got  a  good  whip  then  drove  back 
to  the  track  for  another  half  hour  of  refusing  to  score  on  a 
trot.  Then  I  decided  on  what  to  do.  Turning  her  at  the  usual 
place  for  scoring  I  hit  her  six  stout  raps  with  the  whip,  just 


1 6  THE    TWO-MINUTE    TROTTERS 

as  sharp  as  I  could  make  them  and  let  her  run.  Like  a  deer 
she  covered  about  twenty-five  yards  and  landed  in  a  very 
fast  trot. 

"Pulling  her  up  at  the  first  turn  I  dismounted,  petted  her, 
gave  her  some  sugar  and  some  grass,  then  remounted  and 
turned  her  at  the  score  once  more.  That  time  she  scored 
beautifully  the  first  time  asked  and  trotted  like  she  meant  it. 
I  had  promised  myself  that  as  soon  as  she  scored  properly 
I  would  end  her  work  for  the  day  so  I  took  her  to  the  barn. 
This  was  in  the  early  Spring  of  1902  and  before  we  left 
California  she  worked  for  me  in  2:22. 

'Tt  was  the  intention  to  send  her  to  the  ranch  for  the 
summer  as  I  was  to  race  the  Henry  Pierce  horses  in  the  East, 
on  shares,  and  she  was  not  considered  good  enough  to  take 
to  the  races  under  that  sort  of  contract.  But  Mr.  Pierce 
finally  declared  that  Lou  would  come  East  if  any  of  his  other 
horses  came  and  accordingly  she  was  shipped  along  with 
Anzella,  Janice,  Sir  Albert  S.  and  others,  to  Cleveland.  I 
did  not  give  her  a  thought  as  a  race  mare  but  one  morning 
at  the  Glenville  track,  just  before  shipping  to  the  Blue  Rib- 
bon races  at  Detroit  I  worked  her  a  mile  in  2:11.  Johnny 
Ray,  the  famous  comedian  and  one  of  harness  racing's  most 
devoted  followers  came  to  me  after  seeing  that  work  and 
off"ered  $5,000  for  the  mare.  All  I  could  tell  him  was  that 
I  would  wire  his  offer  to  Mr.  Pierce,  which  I  did  advising 
against  selling.  Mr.  Pierce's  answer  was:  'Use  your  judg- 
ment, you  are  on  the  ground.' 

"So  I  kept  her  and  when  we  reached  Baltimore  I  worked 
her  a  mile  in  2:08l/>,  the  last  half  in  1  :01  and  refused  an 
offer  of  $10,000  for  her.  I  worked  her  along  as  the  day 
and  track  suited  and  soon  began  to  realize  that  she  was  a 
wonderfully  fast  trotter  so  from  the  day  of  that  realization 
she  was  trained  with  the  coming  year  in  view.  At  Lexington 
in  early  October  she  worked  a  mile  in  2:08  and  E.  E. 
Smathers  offered  $15,000  for  her.  That  offer,  after  wiring 
Mr.  Pierce  and  getting  his  answer,  was  declined. 

"The  week  of  the  Memphis  meeting  I  was  working  her 
one  morning  and  Mr.  Geers  was  out  with  The  Abbot  2:031/4 
and  the  late  Jack  Curry  was  working  Prince  Alert.     Asking 


LOU    DILLON  17 

them  how  fast  they  intended  to  go  they  said  in  2:10  and  I 
asked  to  work  the  little  mare  with  them.  The  look  of  in- 
credulity which  came  on  the  faces  of  those  two  veteran 
drivers  I  shall  never  forget.  Well — we  went  to  the  half  in 
1:08  and  the  last  half  was  in  1:001/2  and  Lou  was  going 
easy  all  the  way.  In  a  few^  moments  Mr.  Smathers  came  to 
the  stable  and  made  an  offer  of  $20,000.  Telegraphing  Mr. 
Pierce  the  offer  I  advised  against  selling  and  he  replied  tell- 
ing me  to  use  my  own  judgment,  so  that  very  generous  offer 
was  also  refused  and  the  mare  was  shipped  to  California  at 
the  close  of  the  Memphis  meeting. 

"When  I  met  Mr.  Pierce  in  San  Francisco  on  my  return 
to  the  coast  he  asked  me  if  I  candidly  thought  Lou  a  great 
mare  and  I  quickly  replied  that  I  thought  her  to  be  the  fastest 
trotter  in  the  world  and  that  she  would  trot  in  two  minutes. 
Mr.  Pierce  replied  that  she  was  not  for  sale  and  that  if  he 
thought  she  was  the  coming  two-minute  trotter  money  would 
not  buy  her.  He  was  more  than  wealthy  and  was  probably 
one  of  the  best  horse  owners  that  ever  lived.  He  spent  a  lot 
of  money  on  horses  yet  had  never  before  bred  or  owned  one 
of  high  class.  So  he  said:  'I  am  worth  a  lot  of  money  and 
money  is  no  object  to  me.  If  I  could  sell  her  for  $100,000 
I  would  rather  own  her  when  she  trots  in  two  minutes  than 
have  that  sum  in  the  bank.' 

"He  looked  at  Lou  much  as  Splan  did  at  Rarus  when  he 
had  priced  that  great  trotter  to  Robert  Bonner,  that  gentle- 
man saying:  'Mr.  Splan,  $40,000  is  a  lot  of  money.'  To 
which  Splan  replied:  'Yes,  Mr.  Bonner,  but  thousands  of 
men  in  New  York  have  $40,000  yet  only  one  man  can  have 
Rarus.' 

"In  the  book  made  by  the  grim  reaper  no  favorites  are 
played.  In  about  ten  days  after  my  conversation  with  Mr. 
Pierce  he  contracted  pneumonia  and  it  soon  proved  fatal, 
thus  ending  all  plans  he  may  have  made  as  well  as  his  par- 
donable ambition  to  be  the  owner  of  a  two-minute  trotter. 
Lou  Dillon  and  all  his  other  horses  had  to  be  sold  and  they 
were  shipped  in  the  late  Spring  of  1903  to  Cleveland  to  be 
dispersed  at  the  May  sale. 

"Another  disappointment  awaited  me  at  the  sale.     Mr. 


1 8  THE    TWO-MINUTE    TROTTERS 

Ira  Pierce,  brother  of  Mr.  Henry  Pierce,  had  promised  to 
buy  Lou  Dillon  for  me  and  told  me  if  I  wanted  her,  to  buy 
her  at  any  price.  I  had  made  up  my  mind  to  go  to  $25,000 
but  a  few  minutes  before  the  mare  was  offered  he  advised 
me  that  he  would  not  furnish  the  money  and  there  was  no 
time  to  get  it  elsewhere.  In  consequence  the  mare  was  sold 
at  a  sacrifice  to  Mr.  C.  K.  G.  Billings,  for  $12,500  and  she 
has  had  no  other  owner.  When  the  little  mare  was  led  out 
to  be  sold  you  may  be  sure  I  was  not  in  much  of  a  talking 
humor  but  I  did  manage  to  say  to  the  assembled  crowd: 
'Gentlemen,  I  would  rather  own,  train  and  drive  this  mare 
to  the  record  she  will  attain  than  to  be  President  of  the 
United  States'  and  I  gave  them  as  my  reason  that  we  had  had 
many  Presidents  but  never  a  trotter  to  do  what  she  would  do. 
At  the  time  I  said  it  I  knew  those  present  thought  I  was  just 
talking.  But  I  meant  it.  And,  inside  of  six  months  from 
that  day  Lou  Dillon  trotted  a  mile  in  1:58^  under  very 
adverse  circumstances. 

"At  that  time  I  had  no  previous  experience  to  guide  me 
in  my  work.  There  had  never  been  a  horse  that  had  trotted 
faster  than  2:0214  '^^^^  the  work  a  man  must  give  a  two- 
minute  trotter  was  absolutely  unknown  to  me  or  any  other 
trainer.  It  cost  me  a  great  deal  of  thought  and  quite  a  little 
worry  and  uneasiness.  I  did  only  what  I  thought  was  proper 
but  at  that  time  my  methods  seemed  a  bit  severe  or  strenuous 
and  attracted  considerable  criticism  from  my  brother  train- 
ers. They  wondered  why  I  worked  Lou  so  fast  and  still 
tried  to  make  more  speed.  Now  what  I  was  doing  was  trying 
to  simply  develop  something  that  for  years  had  been  con- 
sidered impossible.  I  was  not  satisfied  or  contented  to  think 
she  would  only  trot  in  2:02  or  possibly  2:01  and  thus  carry 
the  record  for  I  had  predicted  two  minutes  or  better  for  her, 
and  I  Ijelieve  that  no  other  man  in  the  world  thought  she 
would  trot  as  fast  as  two  minutes.  As  I  often  remarked, 
training  a  trotter  and  edging  him  up  to  a  two-minute  mile 
or  better  especially  in  1903  was  very  much  like  a  man  play- 
ing a  violin.  He  gets  it  all  tuned  up,  lays  it  down  and  picks 
it  up  next  day  to  play  it  yet  before  he  can  play  he  must  tune 
it  again.     In  those  days  a  two-minute  trotter  was  just  as  deli- 


LOU    DILLON  19 

cate  as  a  fine  violin.  I  will  repeat — I  had  no  fixed  plan,  no 
set  method  of  other  men  to  go  by. 

"After  Lou  was  sold  to  Mr.  Billings,  she  was  turned  over 
to  Mr.  Chas.  Tanner  and  though  he  got  along  very  nicely 
with  her,  after  he  had  driven  her  about  thirty  days,  he  came 
to  me  and  remarked  that  he  was  not  quite  satisfied  with  her 
and  that  I  could  have  her  to  train  if  I  wanted  her.  I  asked 
him  when  I  could  have  her  and  his  reply  was,  'right  away'. 
I  went  with  him  to  Mr.  Billings'  stable  and  took  charge  of 
the  mare  and  Tommy  Waugh,  her  caretaker,  as  nice  a  little 
gentleman  and  as  nice  a  little  mare  as  any  man  ever  had 
under  his  direction. 

"Quite  naturally,  during  her  absence  from  my  stable 
Lou  almost  forgot  the  terms  of  the  old  understanding  be- 
tween us  but  I  jogged  her  a  couple  of  days  and  we  restored 
the  old  agreement.  Deciding  to  work  her  on  the  third  day 
after  she  came  back  to  me,  I  asked  Mr.  Tanner  to  drive  the 
runner  and  I  would  let  her  go  a  fraction  better  than  2:10  if 
he  would  rate  the  runner  every  quarter  in  32l^.  Nobody 
could  do  it  better  than  he  and  he  complied  with  my  request 
to  the  very  fraction  and  the  mare,  brushing  the  last  fifty 
yards,  trotted  the  mile  in  2:09^,  it  being  understood  that  I 
w^as  to  beat  the  runner  out  a  little  bit.  This  performance 
rather  surprised  everybody  except  me  and  pleased  all  friends 
of  Mr.  Billings. 

"After  that  mile  I  jogged  her  a  few  days  and  let  Tommy 
Waugh  ride  her  about  the  grounds  with  nothing  on  her  but 
the  halter.  I  might  say  that  from  that  day  on  she  seldom 
had  harness  on  more  than  three  or  four  days  a  week.  The 
days  she  was  not  harnessed  Tommy  would  take  her  out  to 
halter,  ride  her  three  or  four  miles  and  let  her  visit  round. 
It  was  a  quiet  way  to  execise  her,  because  she  was  but  a 
bundle  of  nerves  while  in  harness.  On  the  other  hand  she 
was  the  meekest,  quietest,  kindest  and  most  gentle  little  mare 
in  the  world,  almost  a  Dr.  Jekyll  and  Mr.  Hyde  in  her  dual 
personality.  When  I  put  harness  on  her  she  would  fret  and 
sweat  and  waste  away.  When  I  did  work  her  I  did  not  use 
the  regular  methods  in  scraping  her  out,  did  not  use  a 
scraper — it  was  too  harsh.     Instead  I  got  Tommy  a  big,  soft 


20  THE    TWO-MINUTE    TROTTERS 

sponge  and  with  it  we  lifted  the  perspiration  off  her.  I 
found  that  the  less  we  rubbed  her  body  the  better  natured  she 
was.  I  think  if  we  had  scraped  and  rubbed  her  she  would 
have  wasted  away  and  would  not  have  been  the  great  mare 
she  turned  out  to  be.  I  seldom  jogged  her  as  I  did  the  other 
horses.  She  was  so  high  strung  and  nervous  at  a  slow  gait 
that  she  was  harder  on  herself  going  slow  than  when  allowed 
to  step  along  for  a  little.  For  instance,  often  when  I  went 
out  to  jog  her  she  would  twist  and  fret  and  show  that  she 
did  not  want  to  go  slow,  so  to  please  and  humor  her  I  would 
get  to  the  half  and  then  let  her  step  off  at  probably  a  2:05 
gait,  perhaps  better,  in  other  words  I  would  let  her  go  the 
clip  that  satisfied  her.  Maybe  I  had  intended  to  jog  her 
three  miles,  but  after  letting  her  step  I  would  abandon  the 
jogging  and  take  her  to  her  stall.  I  tell  all  this  because 
some  other  trainer  may  some  day  have  a  very  fast,  nervous 
horse  and  he  may  profit  by  the  experiences  I  had  with  Lou 
Dillon,  for  I  know  that  many  good  horses,  probably  two- 
minute  trotters  have  been  thrown  away. 

"I  can  cite  many  times  when  Lou  Dillon  looked  to  be 
absolutely  worthless.  She  was  so  high  strung  that  you 
could  not  give  her  work  enough  to  quiet  her  and  if  you 
gave  her  the  work  she  would  not  eat  as  much  as  a  canary 
bird. 

"I  remember,  quite  well,  her  only  bad  performance,  the 
disappointing  one  at  Brighton  Beach  in  2:03'%|^.  After  that 
mile  I  talked  with  Tommy  Waugh  and  he  told  me  to  get 
another  man  to  groom  her  as  he  could  not  get  her  to  eat 
enough  to  enable  her  to  go  her  good  miles.  T  cannot  do 
it'  he  said.  I  told  him  our  dictionary  contained  no  such 
word  as  can't  and  added:  'You  may  not  be  able  to  make 
her  eat  enough  but  WE  will.  I  am  going  to  help  you.'  At 
that  time  she  would  not  eat  a  quart  of  oats  in  twenty-four 
hours.  I  said  to  Tommy:  'We  have  done  too  much  work 
on  this  mare  and  she  is  too  fast  to  give  up.  We  will  coax 
and  persuade  her  to  eat  enough  to  go  on.'  So  I  told  him  to 
wait  until  I  came  back  from  the  city.  I  was  all  at  sea  but 
I  had  no  faith  in  condition  powders  or  appetizers  or  dope 
so  I  decided  to  try  to  make  a  vegetarian  out  of  her.      In 


o 

z 

13 

d 


00 


O 


LOU    DILLON  23 

town  I  went  to  a  market  and  bought  small  quantities  of 
every  vegetable  there  as  well  as  every  cereal  in  stock.  Then 
I  went  back  to  the  track  fairly  loaded  down  with  the  truck. 
The  first  thing  we  did  was  to  spread  a  blanket  in  one  corner 
of  the  stall  and  on  it  we  put  a  small  quantity  of  everything 
I  had  bought,  all  in  separate  piles.  I  had  three  or  four 
cereals,  apples,  peaches,  pears,  potatoes,  turnips  and  carrots. 
There  never  was  man  or  horse  that  would  not  eat  the  thing 
that  struck  his  palate  or  taste.  Lou  nosed  the  food  and 
when  she  came  to  the  carrots  ate  them  up  clean  then  smelled 
everything  else,  turned  and  left  it.  In  my  joy  I  said  to 
Tommy:  'We  have  the  greatest  trotter  in  the  world  right 
now.' 

"I  bought  a  half-bushel  of  carrots  and  a  coarse  vegetable 
grater,  took  them  back  to  the  stable,  grated  two  quarts  of 
carrots  and  mixed  them  with  two  quarts  of  oats.  She  cleaned 
the  feed  box  and  looked  for  more.  From  that  day  on  until 
she  trotted  her  record  mile  in  1:581/4  her  regular  ration 
w^as  two  quarts  of  oats  and  three  quarts  of  grated  carrots 
mixed.  She  had  this  feed  four  times  every  day  and  the 
day  she  took  her  record  she  had  two  quarts  of  oats  and 
three  quarts  of  grated  carrots  for  breakfast  and  also  for 
dinner. 

''If  I  had  a  hundred  horses  I  would  certainly  feed  them 
some  carrots,  especially  to  delicate  feeders.  They  are  veiy 
strengthening  and  just  as  nourishing  as  any  feed  that  can 
be  given  a  horse.  I  found  many  years  ago  on  a  horse-buy- 
ing trip  through  Missouri  that  the  farmers  who  fed  carrots 
had  by  long  odds  the  sleekest  and  best  looking  horses. 

"There  were  two  causes  for  Lou  Dillon's  poor  perform- 
ance at  Brighton  Beach.  The  first  has  already  been  named, 
that  she  was  feeding  badly  and  did  not  have  sufficient  strength 
and  vitality  to  go  a  great  mile.  The  second  cause  arose 
at  the  start  of  the  mile  and  was  a  misunderstanding  between 
Mr.  Tanner  and  myself  regarding  the  speed,  or  rating. 
When  we  scored  for  the  word  she  was  trotting  veiy  fast, 
in  fact  too  fast  and  as  we  struck  the  first  turn  I  shouted 
to  Mr.  Tanner  to  take  the  runner  back.  He  misunderstood 
me  and  came  on  and  we  trotted  the  first  eighth  in  thirteen 


24  THE    TWO-MINUTE    TROTTERS 

seconds  and  I  felt  very  much  ashamed  of  myself,  because 
I  should  not  have  expected  any  horse  to  go  a  mile  and  trot 
the  first  eighth  that  fast.  The  result  was,  of  course,  that 
she  slowed  up  at  the  end  of  the  mile.  But,  blaming  my- 
self more  than  I  did  the  mare  for  this  performance,  I  per- 
suaded Mr.  Billings  to  let  me  take  her  to  Boston  for  another 
trial.  We  took  her  there  and  Mr.  Chas.  Jewett,  the  Secretary 
of  the  Readville  track,  gave  me  full  charge  of  the  course. 
I  worked  it  for  four  days  before  she  was  started,  to  get  it 
conditioned  to  suit  Lou  Dillon.  This  carried  us  up  to  Sun- 
day and  she  was  to  go  on  Monday,  the  opening  day.  The 
question  that  bothered  me  most  was  how  to  blow  her  out  and 
prepare  her  for  the  effort  of  the  next  day.  The  meeting  was 
the  regular  Grand  Circuit  event  and  before  working  her  on 
Sunday  I  talked  with  a  number  of  the  leading  trainers  try- 
ing to  get  advice  as  to  the  preparatory  work  on  Monday. 
My  past  experience  with  her  had  convinced  me  that  she  had 
to  be  worked  right  up  to  the  day  of  a  performance  in  order 
to  be  good.  A  majority  of  the  trainers  advised  me  to  work 
her  in  2:25  to  2:20  on  Sunday.  After  thinking  the  matter 
over  and  knowing  the  mare  as  well  as  I  did,  I  worked  her  in 
2:40,  2:25  and  2:091/2,  the  last  half  of  the  2:09l/>  mile  in 
1:00^.  There  is  where  I  was  criticized  and  called  the 
erratic  tariner.  I  asked  the  men  to  wait  with  their  adverse 
criticism  until  after  Monday.  When  she  trotted  the  mile  in 
two  minutes  the  last  eighth  in  14  seconds,  I  merely  said  they 
could  criticize  as  much  as  they  pleased,  but  that  my  judg- 
ment had  proved  to  be  right. 

'T  considered  Lou  Dillon  what  may  be  termed  short  bred 
on  her  dam's  side.  My  reason  for  working  her  as  I  did  was 
drawn  from  the  old-time  races  where  a  field  of  horses  would 
start  in  a  race  one  day  and  trot  two,  three  or  four  heats  and 
the  race  would  be  postponed  until  the  next  day  and  the  same 
horses  would  trot  faster  than  they  did  the  previous  day. 
This  may  not  prove  to  be  true  with  the  present  day  breeding, 
but  the  old-fashioned  trotter  had  to  be  keyed  tighter  than  the 
fashionably  bred  horses  of  today. 

"This  mile  only  convinced  me  that  Lou  had  a  great  deal 
more  in  her  than  she  had  shown.     She  went  from  Readville 


LOU  DILLON  25 

to  Cleveland  and  worked  to  wagon  in  2:04^),  2:05^/4  and 
so  on.  At  Lexington  she  first  went  a  mile  to  wagon  in 
2:01'^,  which  was  the  day  of  Lou  Dillon's  life,  when  she 
should  have  set  a  record  that  yet  would  be  hanging  on  the 
Lexington  stand,  as  never  before  or  after  in  her  life  was  she 
so  good.  I  warmed  her  up  to  go  for  the  sulky  record.  1 
expected  to  drive  her  and  worked  her  in  2:40,  2:21  and 
2:14,  the  last  eighth  of  the  2:14  mile  in  13  seconds.  I  had 
made  great  preparations  for  the  mile.  The  day  was  good, 
the  track  was  good,  the  mare  was  good  and  I  had  hopes  that 
she  would  set  a  record  that  would  stand  for  many  days  to 
come.  Her  sulky  was  run  out  on  the  floor  and  I  had  given 
every  detail  careful  thought.  I  went  to  the  stand  and 
weighed  in — at  156  pounds.  Walking  back  to  the  stable  to 
get  the  mare  ready  and  bring  her  out  to  sulky,  I  was  hailed 
by  Mr.  Tanner  who  said:  'Hitch  her  to  wagon;  Mr.  Billings 
will  drive  her.'  While  she  went  a  beautiful  mile  to  wagon 
for  Mr.  Billings,  I  still  think,  if  she  had  gone  to  sulky  that 
day,  her  record  would  not  have  been  lowered  to  this  day  as 
she  had  been  trained  and  worked  with  the  idea  that  I  was  to 
drive  her  that  mile.  While  I  do  not  want  to  make  any  claims, 
I  believe  that  every  great  horse,  trotter,  pacer  or  runner  and 
every  great  man  has  ONE  day.  What  makes  it  more  dif- 
ficult for  a  horse  to  perform  in  wonderful  time  is  a  combina- 
tion of  circumstances.  For  a  horse  must  be  just  right, 
the  track  just  right,  the  atmosphere  just  right  and  the  driver 
himself  just  right  in  order  to  accomplish  great  things. 

"At  Memphis,  following  the  Lexington  effort  Lou  trotted 
in  2:04*^,  2:04*%  to  wagon  and  then  came  her  record  mile 
of  1:581/2  to  sulky,  the  quarters  in  30,  591/0,  1:281/0,  thus 
the  middle  half  was  trotted  in  581/)  seconds  and  she  still 
had  enough  left  to  trot  the  final  quarter  in  30  seconds.  This 
mile  was  not  trotted  under  the  most  favorable  circumstances, 
owing  to  the  fact  that  a  light  frost  the  night  before  had  left 
the  air  heavy — not  light  and  balmy  such  as  is  necessaiy  for 
a  supreme  effort. 

"While  I  do  not  want  to  find  fault,  yet  I  do  believe  that 
Lou  Dillon's  performances  were  most  wonderful  for  a  green 
mare.     It  is  to  be  remembered  that  she  began  the  season 


26  THE    TWO-MINUTE    TROTTERS 

without  a  record  and  with  no  education  and  development  to 
season  her.  The  majority  of  horses  that  have  held  the 
world's  records  are  horses  that  have  been  campaigned  from 
one  year  to  two,  three  and  four  years,  which  is  necessary  to 
develope  muscle,  lungs  and  everything  pertaining  to  endur- 
ance. And,  again,  Lou  Dillon  had  more  to  contend  with 
than  almost  any  other  horse.  The  days  she  looked  good, 
perhaps  the  best,  she  would  go  to  wagon  and  I  do  not  believe 
any  horse,  especially  a  double-gaited  one  wants  to  be  chop- 
ping at  world's  records  one  day  with  an  amateur  driver,  to 
wagon,  and  the  next  time  to  sulky  with  professional  driving. 
Different  hitches,  different  drivers,  let  them  be  ever  so  good, 
do  not  make  a  good  system  for  the  training  of  a  two-minute 
trotter. 

"While  Lou  Dillon  was  a  perfectly  gaited  trotter,  she 
was  not  in  the  beginning,  for  then  she  was  a  very  ordinary 
gaited  mare.  She  was,  as  I  have  said,  double-gaited;  she 
rolled,  or  paddled  with  the  right  front  foot  and  one  of  her 
worst  faults  of  gait  was  that  she  speedy-cut  very  badly. 
She  began  to  learn  to  trot  with  a  twelve-ounce  shoe  forward 
and  four-ounce  toe-weight.  After  she  showed  some  speed, 
I  saw  she  was  too  light  to  carry  much  weight,  so  I  gradually 
reduced  the  weight  of  her  front  shoes  and  put  very  light 
bell  quarter  boots  on  her.  The  roll  of  the  boots  seemed  to 
answer  the  same  purpose  as  the  toe-wieghts  she  had  pre- 
viously carried.  For  a  long  time  she  was  quite  mixed  gaited 
and  would  rather  pace  than  trot.  Then  I  put  a  very  light 
rim  pad  under  each  front  shoe  and  that  helped  her  very 
much.  The  bell  quarter  boots  and  the  rim  pads  were  of 
great  importance  to  her,  for  her  gait  became  flat  and  even 
and  every  time  I  shod  her  I  kept  putting  on  shoes  some 
lighter  than  she  had  been  carrying. 

"When  she  trotted  the  mile  in  two  minutes  at  Readville, 
she  had  on  6  ounce  shoes  forward  and  4  ounce  shoes  behind, 
with  a  314  inch  toe  and  an  angle  of  48.  Behind,  her  toes 
were  the  same  length  as  the  front  ones  and  the  angle  was 
5L  I  always  kept  her  feet  at  about  the  same  length  and 
angle  but  kept  reducing  the  weight  of  her  shoes  and  when 
she  trotted  in   1:581/4  she  wore  41/2  ounce  shoes  in  front 


LOU    DILLON  27 

with  very  light  rim  pad  and  214  ounce  shoes  behind — 
swedge  shoes  with  small  heel  calk. 

"All  this  had  a  great  deal  to  do  with  Lou  and  her  gait. 
But  the  greatest  improvement  through  the  most  essential 
thing  for  her  to  have,  was  the  lip  strap.  From  her  early 
development,  or  breaking,  when  you  would  put  a  bit  in  her 
mouth  she  would  continually  shake  her  head.  I  removed 
the  bridle  check  and  took  a  straight  Jaynes  bit  and  from 
the  very  first  time  I  put  a  lip  strap  on  her  she  went  smoother 
and  better.  As  long  as  she  was  fighting  the  bit  and  shak- 
ing her  head  it  interfered  with  her  gait.  While  a  lip  strap 
is  considered  very  severe,  and  it  is  if  a  man  sees  fit  to  make 
it  so,  a  horse  in  order  to  go  fast  must  go  pure-gaited,  with 
no  discord  and  no  pulling.  You  can  drive  a  horse  more  air- 
ily, lighter-handed  with  a  lip  strap  than  you  can  with  a  bit 
alone.  In  the  majority  of  cases  the  bit  pulls  back  on  the 
teeth  which  have  no  life  or  resiliency.  But  a  lip  strap 
passes  over  the  front  teeth,  rests  on  the  gums  and  at  a  point 
where  every  horse  has  a  pair  of  very  sensative  nerves.  And 
every  horse  soon  learns  what  that  means.  A  man  must  be 
light-handed  in  order  to  use  the  lip  strap  successfully.  I 
have  had  wonderful  success  with  it  as  I  generally  drive  my 
horses  low-headed  and  in  a  great  many  cases  with  no  check 
at  all.  For  instance,  Lou  Dillon  wore  no  check  and  I  could 
mention  many  others. 

"I  am  very  much  with  the  lip  strap  as  Robert  Bonner 
was  with  the  toe  weights.  He  told  me  one  day  while  I  was 
visiting  with  him  in  the  office  of  the  New  York  Ledger  that 
he  believed  the  toe-weight  would  increase  the  endurance  of 
some  horses.  As  he  explained  it  a  horse  must  go  smoothly 
and  without  friction  to  go  fast  and  far.  In  other  words, 
would  last  longer  going  at  a  smooth  gait  than  if  he  went 
at  a  rough  gait  and  pulled.  The  average  horse  takes  too 
much  out  of  himself  by  pulling  on  the  bit.  With  a  lip  strap 
properly  adjusted  a  horse  will  not  pull  half  as  much  as  he 
will  on  a  bit.  At  all  events  I  have  scored  many  notable 
training  successes  with  the  lip  strap  where  I  know  I  would 
have  failed  without   it. 

"Lou  Dillon  was   a  chestnut  mare,   foaled   1898,  bred 


28  THE    TWO-MINUTE    TROTTERS 

by  Santa  Rosa  Stock  Farm,  Santa  Rosa,  Cal.  and  was  by 
Sidney  Dillon  out  of  Lou  Milton  by  Milton  Medium.  She 
was  a  three-year-old  before  she  was  thought  enough  of  to  be 
given  a  name  as  she  was  not  considered  around  the  farm, 
to  be  very  much.  One  day  Mr.  H.  I.  Pierce,  who  bred  her, 
asked  me  what  I  thought  would  be  a  good  name  for  the  filly. 
I  suggested  Lou  from  her  dam  Lou  Milton  and  Dillon,  from 
her  sire  Sidney  Dillon,  the  idea  struck  him  just  right  and  the 
filly  was  named  Lou  Dillon. 

"In  closing  this  story  I  want  to  go  on  record  as  believ- 
ing that  one  of  the  greatest  miles  Lou  Dillon  ever  trotted  was 
that  in  2:05  over  the  Glenville  track  in  1903.  That  mile  was 
trotted  strictly  according  to  rule,  and  she  drew  a  high-wheel 
sulky  that  weighed  42  pounds  and  I  weighed  156  pounds. 
This  was  when  trotters  had  to  carry  150  pounds.  Since 
then  the  rules  have  been  changed.  I  could  have  gone  a 
much  faster  mile  that  day,  but  I  rated  her  too  slow  to  the 
half,  thinking  she  would  tire  with  the  high-wheel  sulky,  and 
I  was  rating  her  to  go  a  mile  better  than  2:08%,  which  was 
the  Maud  S.  world's  record  at  that  time  for  that  style  of 
hitch.  The  Board  did  not  allow  the  record  on  the  ground 
that  the  mare  already  had  a  fast  record.  I  want  to  say  that 
in  my  opinion  the  Board  was  wrong  because  Lou  Dillon  was 
started  to  beat  the  high-wheel  sulky  record  of  the  world  and 
she  did  beat  it  and  the  little  mare  ought  to  have  the  honor 
which  goes  with  that  mile,  the  fastest  ever  trotted  or  paced 
to  a  high-wheel  sulky. 

"The  management  of  the  Glenville  track,  after  the  2:05 
mile,  took  the  Maud  S.  2:08%  gold  shoe  down  from  the 
main  entrance  and  substituted  one  bearing  the  legend  'Lou 
Dillon,  2:05'  and  it  hung  there  for  some  time  which  proves 
that  I  was  not  the  only  one  who  believed  the  mile  was  a 
world's   record. 

"I  might  add,  to  keep  the  record  straight,  that  before 
Lou  Dillon  came  into  my  hands,  she  was  driven  some  by 
George  Ramage,  then  trainer  at  Santa  Rosa  Stock  Farm." 


Q 

< 

Z 
O 

Q 
u 


< 

'r- 
< 


OS 


u 
Q 

a: 
O 


///  luck  his  portion — cruel  fate! 

Yet  listed  he  his  name  among  the  great. 

— J.  J.  Holden. 


MAJOR   DELMAR 

Champion  Trotting  Gelding  for  Six  Years 
Record  1:59% 

AJOR  DELMAR  1:593/4,  by  Delmar,  out  of  Expec- 
tation  by  Autograph  was  one  of  the  greatest  racing 
geldings  of  all  time  and  it  was  in  that  particular 
line  of  endeavor  that  he  achieved  his  most  enduring  fame. 
Among  his  victories  were  those  scored  in  some  of  the  more 
important  stake  races  on  the  Grand  Circuit.  And  yet,  while 
many  of  his  assaults  on  time  were  losing  performances  it 
is  a  remarkable  fact  that  he  trotted  no  less  than  thirteen 
miles  in  2:03  or  Ijetter  a  feat  no  other  trotter  of  his  day 
accomplished  or  very  nearly  equaled  and  that  alone  serves 
to  show  that  the  big  son  of  Delmar  was  what  has  so  often 
been  called  "a  trotter  above  ordinances." 

He  came  out  as  a  star  of  the  first  magnitude  in  the  season 
of  1902  in  charge  of  the  late  Alta  McDonald  who  started 
him  in  an  even  dozen  races  against  the  pick  of  the  year's 
trotters  and  he  was  returned  victor  in  nine  of  them  and  ended 
the  campaign  with  a  record  of  2:0d^A. 

It  happened  in  his  case,  as  in  the  cases  of  many  other 
fast-record  holders  before  and  since,  that  there  were  no 
classes  for  him  in  1903  and  he  was  used  largely  for  exhibi- 
tion purposes.  He  raced  twice  against  The  Abbot,  whose 
star  was  setting,  and  beat  him  on  both  occassions  in  ridicu- 
lously slow  time.  After  that  there  was  no  foeman  w^orthy 
of  his  steel  except  Lou  Dillon  and  the  only  time  she  met  him 
that  year  was  in  the  Gold  Cup  race  to  wagon,  at  Memphis, 
where  he  was  beaten  in  two  straight  heats  in  2 :04'%,  2 :04%. 


32  THE    TWO-MINUTE    TROTTERS 

But  he  entered  the  two-minute  list  at  that  same  meeting  and 
became  the  wold's  champion  trotting  gelding  with  his  record 
of  1:593/4. 

Something  about  the  many  really  good  miles  this 
splendid  gelding  trotted  cannot  fail  to  be  of  interest.  His 
first  attempt  against  time  was  made  at  Albany  where  he  set 
the  track  record  at  2:04^)4-  Then  he  was  started  at  the 
Empire  City  track  where  in  an  effort  to  beat  2 :04'^  he  trotted 
in  2:04. 

On  September  4th  at  Providence  he  lowered  his  record 
to  2:02^>  and  at  the  New  York  State  Fair,  Syracuse,  Sep- 
tember 9th,  he  further  reduced  that  record  to  2:0114.  Two 
days  later  he  just  missed  becoming  the  second  member  of 
the  list  of  two-minute  trotters.  It  was  over  the  same  course 
and  the  time  of  the  mile  was  2:001/4.  This  performance 
he  exactly  duplicated  at  the  Oakley  course,  Cincinnati,  0., 
September  30th,  after  having  trotted  in  2:00*^4  ^t  Readville 
on  the  14th.  At  Lexington,  Ky.,  October  9th,  he  was  started 
against  the  wagon  record  of  2:04%^  and  trotted  the  mile  in 
2:03**^.  Then  he  was  taken  to  Memphis  where  he  lost  the 
Gold  Cup  race  to  Lou  Dillon.  That  was  on  October  20th 
and  just  one  week  later  he  made  his  first  successful  attempt 
to  enter  the  two-minute  list  and  covered  the  mile  in  1 :59^ 
adding  a  brilliant  chapter  to  the  history  of  the  wonderful 
speed  carnival  held  in  the  Tennessee  metropolis  that  year. 

Though  started  many  times  in  1904  Major  Delmar  was 
not  again  able  to  negotiate  a  mile  better  than  2:01^4*  He 
started  at  Providence,  Readville,  Columbus,  Lexington,  Syra- 
cuse and  Memphis  and  four  of  his  miles  were  trotted  in 
2:021/4.  His  best  mile  was  at  Memphis  after  he  had  won 
the  Gold  Cup  race  and  was  his  last  effort  in  public  to  bicycle 
sulky.  He  trotted  creditably,  however  and  while  the  mile 
broke  no  records  it  was  done  in  2:0114  on  a  day  not  suited 
for  extra  fast  performances. 

During  that  same  meeting  at  Memphis,  Major  Delmar 
was  hitched  to  a  high- wheel  sulky  and  to  that  rig  trotted 
a  highly  creditable  mile,  the  time  of  which  was  2:07. 

It  was  the  irony  of  fate  that  Major  Delmar  never  became 
the  champion  trotter  of  the  world  despite  the  many  brilliant 


MAJOR    DELMAR  33 

miles  he  trotted.  And  it  happened  to  be  Lou  Dillon  who 
was  always  in  his  way.  But  for  her  mile  in  two  minutes 
at  Readville  on  August  24th,  1903,  she  would  not  have  kept 
the  Delmar  gelding  from  the  championship  even  though  he 
might  not  have  held  it  very  long,  for  on  September  9th,  at 
Syracuse,  N.  Y.  he  trotted  a  mile  in  2:011/2  to  beat  Cresceus' 
record  of  2:0214  ai^<i  two  days  later,  over  the  same  track 
as  already  related,  trotted  in  2:0014.  And  it  happened  that 
Lou  Dillon  beat  him  into  the  two-minute  list  by  but  three 
days.  She  took  her  record  on  October  24th,  and  the  Major 
took  his  best  on  October  27th,  1903. 

At  the  close  of  the  season  of  1903  Major  Delmar  held 
the  following  world's  records: 

Half  mile  to  wagon  (1902) 1:01 

One  and  one-eighth  mile  in  race  (1902)  __2:22^ 

Five-year-old   gelding    (1902) ___2:05l/2 

Fastest  race  heat,  live-year-old   (1902) 2:051/0 

Fastest  mile  by  a  gelding  (1903) 1:59%^ 

His  record  mile  was  timed  by  quarters  as  follows:  30, 
1:00,  1:28*^,  1:59-^4'  ^"<^  while  its  final  quarter  was  trotted 
in  but  31  seconds  he  showed  a  wonderful  flight  of  speed  in 
the  third  quarter  after  having  trotted  the  first  half  at  a  two- 
minute  gait. 

Alta  McDonald  is  dead  and  there  is  no  one  to  give 
an  intimate  story  of  the  preparation  of  this  great  gelding 
for  his  flights  against  the  watch.  But  it  is  well  known 
that  he  was  not  trained  so  much  with  the  world's  record  in 
view  as  to  fit  him  for  the  Gold  Cup  race,  an  event  his  then 
owner,  Mr.  E.  E.  Smathers  was  more  than  anxious  to  win 
and  believed  he  had  a  chance  to  win  even  though  Lou 
Dillon  was  the  trotter  to  be  beaten. 

When  he  took  his  best  trot  record  he  wore  plain  roller- 
motion  seven-ounce  shoes  in  front,  and  four-ounce  pin  steel 
shoes  behind  with  light  heel  calks. 

Mr.  Chas.  H.  Baldwin,  who  now  lives  at  Ticonderoga, 
N.  Y.,  was  trainer  for  W.  E.  Spier's  Suburban  Stock  Farm 
where  Major  Delmar  was  bred  and  who  gave  the  colt  his 
early  education  also  drove  him  in  his  races  as  a  three-year- 
old  writes  an  entertaining  sketch  of  that  two-minute  trotter 


34  THE    TWO-MINUTE    TROTTERS 

for  this  volume.  It  tells  why  the  youngster  was  a  compara- 
tive failure  as  a  colt  trotter  and  is  as  follows: 

"I  have  been  out  of  the  game  so  long  that  I  am  not  sure 
I  can  write  anything  that  will  be  of  interest  for  many  of  the 
things  that  would  be  of  value  have  passed  from  my  memory. 

"Major  Delmar  was  a  speedy  natural  trotter  from  the 
start  and  had  he  been  made  a  gelding  when  a  yearling,  as  I 
so  strongly  advised,  he  would  have  been  a  sensational  colt. 
In  very  early  life  he  acquired  the  habit  that  saps  the  vitality 
of  so  many  colts  and  all  the  then  known  methods  and  ap- 
pliances failed  to  cure  it  so  in  his  two  and  three-year-old 
form  he  labored  under  that  severe  handicap. 

"As  a  colt  he  was  a  little  mixed-gaited  and  wore  about  an 
8  ounce  shoe  and  3  ounce  toe-weight.  Behind  he  wore  5 
ounce  shoes.  In  shoeing  him  we  had  to  guard  against  knee 
hitting  which  was  the  only  trouble  we  experienced  with 
him  as  to  gait. 

"When,  in  the  spring  of  his  two-year-old  form  he  was 
in  training  at  Kirkwood,  Del.,  and  that  was  really  his  first 
training,  trouble  developed  in  his  front  ankles  which  neces- 
sitated pin  firing  and  caused  a  complete  let-up  for  two 
months.  About  June  first  we  resumed  jogging  him  and 
about  the  middle  of  the  month  Mr.  Spier  came  to  see  all  his 
horses  there,  about  twenty,  worked.  He  saw  all  of  them 
worked  except  Major  Delmar  and  then  asked  me  why  I 
did  not  work  the  colt.  I  tried  to  put  him  off  until  his  next 
visit  explaining  the  danger  of  stepping  him  fast  so  soon  after 
the  firing.  But  he  replied:  '0,  pshaw!  I'd  rather  see  the 
Major  step  than  all  the  others  put  together  and  I'll  assume 
all  the  damage  it  does  and  not  blame  you  if  he  breaks  a  leg.' 
I  saw  no  way  out  of  it  so  we  hitched  the  colt  (as  we  called 
him)  to  a  Miller  bike  cart  and  showed  his  owner  a  quarter 
in  32*>4  seconds.  I  have  written  at  length  about  this  inci- 
dent to  show  that  Major  Delmar's  speed  was  inherited,  not 
made.  That  year  he  went  as  I  recall  three  fairly  "good  races, 
had  plenty  of  speed  but  from  his  habit  lacked  strength  and 
energy. 

"At  three  he  started  in  the  Horse  Review  Purse  at  Fort 
Erie  and  was  second  to  Mobel  in  2:2014,  2:191/4,  2:16%. 


MAJOR    DELMAR  35 

Before  we  left  Ft.  Erie  an  agent  sold  us  an  electric  shield 
and  it  worked  well  for  a  few  weeks.  At  Readville  he  started 
in  a  race  against  nine  of  the  fastest  three-year-olds  of  that 
time.  Emma  Winter  won  the  first  heat  in  2:15  and  the 
owner  of  Major  Delmar  was  willing  for  her  to  take  the  race 
but  she  was  not  good  enough  and  our  colt  won  the  next 
two  heats  and  race  in  2:15,  pulled  up  and  2:1614-  I  have 
always  thought  he  was  capable  that  day  of  a  mile  in  2:10. 
We  remained  at  Readville  four  weeks  waiting  for  the  New 
England  Breeders'  meeting  and  during  that  time  the  Major 
succeeded  in  beating  the  electric  shield,  just  as  he  had  all 
other  appliances  but  at  the  meeting  he  had  a  walkover  in 
his  stake,  value  $2,370  but  any  ordinary  colt  could  have 
beaten  him. 

"I  advised  against  shipping  to  Kentucky  for  the  Futurity 
but  Mr.  Spier  thought  the  colt  might  surprise  us  and  so 
we  went  but  the  surprise  failed  to  materialize.  So,  after 
that  race  he  said  to  me:  'Charley,  I  think  your  idea  is 
correct.  Ship  home  and  have  the  farm  vet.  go  to  work.' 
And  that  is  what  we  did.  Through  the  following  winter  the 
Major  had  regular  exercise  and  as  the  drain  on  his  system 
was  stopped  he  grew  strong  and  muscular  and  had  plenty 
of  energy.  But  we  were  not  to  go  on  with  him  for  just  as 
we  had  begun  the  preparatory  training  Mr.  Spier  died  and 
so  we  did  not  try  to  get  anything  ready  for  the  races  though 
I  did  step  the  Major  a  mile  in  2:10  during  the  summer  and 
he  did  it  comfortably. 

"There  was  one  marked  peculiarity  about  his  gait  and 
that  was  excessive  hock  action.  He  required  a  sulky  so 
high  that  it  made  one  feel  like  he  was  riding  on  a  load  of 
hay.  I  firmlv  believe  that  with  the  present  day  long  shaft, 
low  sulkv  he  would  have  trotted  to  a  much  lower  record 
than  1:593/4." 

Charley  Baldwin  was  a  highly  capable  and  successful 
trainer  and  while  he  did  not  have  the  honor  of  driving  Major 
Delmar  a  mile  in  two-minutes  or  better  he  did  show  him  the 
way  to  go  and  use  his  natural  speed. 

The  photograph  of  Major  Delmar,  with  Alta  McDonald 
driving,  used  for  the  illustration  leading  this  chapter,  shows 


36  THE    TWO-MINUTE    TROTTERS 

the  high  sulky  which  Charles  Baldwin  speaks  of  in  his  letter. 
The  reader  will  note  that  the  Dan  Patch  sulky,  also  the  one 
drawn  by  Star  Pointer  were  almost,  if  not  quite  so  high. 

Major  Delmar  was  bred  by  W.  E.  Spier,  Glens  Falls, 
N.  Y.,  and  was  the  fastest  trotter  the  Empire  state  had  pro- 
duced until  1921  when  Arion  Guy,  who  was  bred  by  Hudson 
River  Stock  Farm,  Poughkeepsie,  (though  foaled  in  Ken- 
tucky) beat  the  record  of  the  gelding  by  his  mile  in  1:591/2 
at  Lexington. 


o 
Q. 


1 


o 


CO 


A  steed  as  black  as  the  steeds  of  night 
Was  seen  to  pass  as  with  eagle  flight. 

— Thos.  Buchanan  Read. 


UHLAN 

Champion  Trotter  for  Nine  Years 
Record  1:58 

HLAN  1:58  became  the  champion  trotter  of  the  world 
in  October  of  the  year  1912  and  his  reign  lasted 
nine  years  almost  to  the  day,  being  but  once  ser- 
iously menaced  in  the  intervening  period,  and  that  by  the 
stallion  champion  Lee  Axworthy,  who  came  within  a  quarter 
of  a  second  of  equalling  the  record  of  the  incomparable 
black  gelding,  and  might  have  lowered  it  had  he  been  tried 
another  year.  That  was  in  1916,  and  five  years  elapsed 
before  a  new  champion  seized  the  crown. 

So  much  has  been  said  in  praise  of  Uhlan  that  one  hesi- 
tates to  attempt  to  add  to  that  which  has  been  so  worthily 
bestowed  upon  a  subject  so  worthy.  Much  as  the  word  king 
and  its  derivatives  have  come  to  be  disliked,  it  is,  perhaps, 
still  safe  to  say  that  Uhlan  bore  his  kingly  honors  in  a  man- 
ner befitting  the  current  conception  of  a  king  before  the 
last  world  war  proved  that  the  modern  king  was  oft-times 
worse  than  common  clay.  But  Uhlan  was  not  that  sort  of 
king.  He  was  kingly  in  every  sense;  in  the  way  he  carried 
himself;  in  the  way  he  did  that  which  he  set  out  to  do;  in 
his  bearing  after  he  had  done  it.  He  made  one  proud  to 
say  that  the  American  trotter  has  that  quality  which  justifies 
our  devotion  to  him.  He  entertained  thousands  and  the 
entertainment  was  royal.  The  trainer  whose  skill  prepared 
Uhlan  for  the  great  things  he  did  is  preparing  an  intimate 
story  about  him,  and  it  goes  without  saying  that  it  will  be 
eagerly  read  by  many  thousands  of  those  whose  cheers  have 


40  THE    TWO-MINUTE    TROTTERS 

mingled  when  Uhlan  lowered  a  record  and  in  doing  it 
showed  the  world  how  such  a  thing  should  be  done. 

It  is  possible  in  this  volume,  thanks  to  Mr.  Tanner,  to 
present  a  great  deal  concerning  the  way  he  handled  the 
great  gelding  for  his  earlier  record-breaking  feats,  and  in 
this  connection  it  may  be  said  that  those  methods  were  never 
materially  changed.  He  has  also  presented  some  most 
interesting  facts  which  do  not  concern  training  operations, 
but  serve  to  furnish  a  view  of  the  character  and  disposition 
of  one  which  was,  in  many  respects  at  least,  the  greatest  of 
all  trotters  and  who  was  undoubtedly  the  greatest  trotter  of 
his  time.  And  be  it  said,  he  was  as  great  as  a  race  horse 
as  he  was  as  a  battler  against  that  greatest  of  all  foemen, 
the  stop  watch.  The  tasks  he  was  asked  to  do  were  tre- 
mendous and  he  did  them  all  nobly. 

Nearly  all  his  days  he  has  been  a  champion.  He  became 
one  the  first  year  he  was  raced,  when  Robert  Proctor  had 
him.  He  continued  a  champion  the  next  year  (1910)  and 
his  third  year  out  he  added  still  further  to  his  champion- 
ships by  becoming  the  fastest  gelding  in  trotting  annals. 
And  his  fourth  year  before  the  public  he  became  the  world's 
champion  trotter  with  his  mile  in  1 :58  at  Lexington,  Ky., 
October  8,  1912. 

He  trotted  in  two  minutes  or  better  on  seven  occasions 
on  four  different  tracks  and  he  trotted  a  mile  on  a  half-mile 
track  in  2:02'^.  He  trotted  a  mile  with  running  mate  in 
l:54l/v),  and  with  Lewis  Forrest  he  set  the  pole  record  at 
2:03^.  He  forced  Hamburg  Belle  to  set  the  world's  race 
record  at  2:011/4  and  to  trot  the  second  heat  in  2:01%,  and 
beat  her  in  the  return  match.  He  did  everything  that  was 
asked  of  him  and  with  the  exception  of  the  one  race  men- 
tioned, neither  horse  nor  watch  ever  defeated  him.  That 
is  but  a  skeleton  of  his  mighty  achievements  and  if  all  his 
story  is  ever  told  it  will  make  a  volume  of  goodly  size  and 
most  wonderful  reading. 

Mr.  Chas.  Tanner's  story  of  the  great  gelding  the  first 
year  he  was  in  his  hands  and  during  the  course  of  which  he 
lowered  the  record  for  trotting  geldings  to  1:58%  and  trotted 
to  wagon   in  2:01    is   quite   interesting   and   as   it   properly 


UHLAN  41 

belongs  in  this  volume  it  is  presented  in  substance  as  he  pre- 
pared it  in  the  fall  of  1910.     He  said: 

"Uhlan  became  the  property  of  Mr.  Billings  at  Colum- 
bus, 0.,  September  29th,  1909  and  was  turned  over  to  me 
that  day  by  his  trainer,  Robert  Proctor,  of  Readville,  Mass. 
Let  me  say  here  that  the  condition  Uhlan  was  then  in  is  the 
best  evidence  of  the  training  skill  of  that  capable  man.  It 
was  left  to  me  to  make  him  a  two-minute  trotter,  by  the  rec- 
ords, yet  Proctor  had  shown  that  he  had  him  close  to  the 
mark  in  the  race  at  North  Randall,  where,  trotting  on  the  out- 
side all  the  way,  he  had  forced  Hamburg  Belle  to  a  throat- 
latch  finish  in  2:0114  ^^d  that  I  thought  was  about  equal  to 
a  mile  in  two  minutes  where  the  stage  was  set  and  everything 
favored  him.  He  was  in  perfect  physical  condition.  Not  as 
much  as  a  pimple  on  his  legs,  he  was  as  fresh  as  a  horse  could 
be  and  was  carr^ang  more  flesh  than  when  I  had  seen  him, 
first,  weeks  before — and  he  had  all  his  Svhizz'. 

"More  than  that  he  was  perfectly  mannered  and  that  is 
another  bit  of  testimony  as  to  the  ability  of  the  man  who 
brought  him  out.  Very  few  people  realize  how  highly  organ- 
ized Uhlan  really  is,  so  good  has  his  deportment  always  been. 
It  is  well  known  that  any  trotter  that  does  his  mile  in  two 
minutes  or  better  must  be  keyed  high,  but  it  does  not  follow 
that  they  should  lack  good  mannrs.  On  the  other  hand  it  is 
quite  easy  to  spoil  them  as  to  manners  and  Uhlan  could 
easily  have  been  spoiled  early  in  life  had  he  not  been 
handled  with  judgment.  Not  only  is  he  high-strung,  not  only 
has  he  a  will  of  his  own,  but  he  is,  with  it,  an  exceedingly 
wise  horse.  Few  as  brainy  as  he  have  I  ever  known  nor  with 
so  much  of  what  we  call  individuality.  The  fact  that  he  came 
to  me  so  tractable  is  most  creditable  to  the  man  who  devel- 
oped him  and  he  can  justly  pride  himself  upon  that  as  well 
as  upon  the  other  splendid  work  he  did  with  him. 

"We  shipped  Uhlan  to  North  Randall  at  once;  it  was 
Wednesday,  as  Mr.  Billings  was  coming  on  from  New  York 
for  the  Saturday  matinee.  I  asked  Mr.  Proctor  to  accompany 
us  and  be  on  hand  to  post  us  as  to  Uhlan's  peculiarities  and 
he  did  all  and  more  that  we  requested,  explaining  minutely 
all  he  thought  would  help.     Saturday  was  a  'mean'  day  and 


42  THE    TWO-MINUTE    TROTTERS 

Mr.  Billings  did  not  try  to  do  much — just  jogged  a  mile  in 
2:14%,  last  quarter  in  30%  seconds.  Before  that  mile  Proc- 
tor drove  Uhlan  to  sulky  in  2:051/),  last  half  in  1:011/4,  and 
he  did  it  so  easily  that  Mr.  Billings  was  greatly  pleased. 

"While  I  was  at  the  Lexington  meeting  the  next  week 
Uhlan  was  driven  by  his  boy  four  slow  heats,  the  fastest  in 
2:25.  Young  Sam  Caton,  then  here  from  Russia  for  a  visit, 
came  to  Cleveland  with  me  and  I  had  him  train  Uhlan  on 
Friday.  He  told  me  the  fastest  mile  he  had  ever  driven  a 
trotter  in  Russia  was  2:15^4  and  I  told  him  I  wanted  him  to 
drive  Uhlan  one  in  2:05.  He  worked  him  in  2:40,  2:28, 
2:15^  and  then  I  told  him,  for  the  fourth  mile  to  take  him  to 
the  half  in  1:05  and  he  would  bring  him  home  in  a  minute. 
Sam  missed  it  going  to  the  half  which  he  reached  in  1 :06,  but 
Uhlan  trotted  the  last  half  in  a  minute  and  that  gave  Sam 
his  fastest  ride  behind  a  trotter.  When  he  dismounted  he 
was  highly  pleased  and  he  expressed  amazement  at  the  ease 
in  which  the  horse  had  trotted  the  last  half,  declaring  him  a 
most  perfect  trotting  machine.  Up  to  that  time  I  had  never 
driven  Uhlan  at  speed  so  I  got  up  behind  him  that  same  day 
and  drove  him  his  fifth  mile  which  was  in  2:02%.  Note  the 
time  of  the  quarters — 32yo,  30%,  30,  30.  The  way  he  did 
it  made  me  feel,  then  and  there,  that  with  good  luck  he  had  an 
even  chance  to  beat  two  minutes  the  following  year. 

"He  was  then  let  down  gradually  and  his  shoes  pulled  off. 
He  had  a  run  of  several  hours  daily,  as  the  weather  permitted, 
in  a  nice  paddock  and  we  fed  him  six  to  eight  quarts  of  oats 
every  day,  carrots  and  apples  to  whet  his  appetite  and  cooked 
feed  at  night.  On  the  first  of  the  following  February  we 
shipped  to  Brunswick,  Ga.  and  while  the  air  and  the  sur- 
roundings were  delightful,  there  was  nothing  much  but  deep 
sand  roads  to  drive  on.  Uhlan  was  clipped  and  shod  the  day 
he  arrived  there  and  I  had  his  toes  shortened  to  3%  inches  in 
front  and  3^  behind.  Open  six  ounce  shoes  were  put  on  all 
around,  roller  motion  in  front.  I  began  jogging  him  on  the 
sand  roads  giving  him  a  couple  of  miles  the  first  day  and  in- 
creased to  eight  to  ten  daily  except  Sunday  on  which  day  he 
was  never  harnessed.  Most  of  the  time  he  drew  two  pas- 
sengers and  the  cart  was  a  heavy  one.     I  think  that  work  did 


UHLAN  43 

him  a  lot  of  good  in  the  way  it  strengthened  his  muscles  and 
the  air  was  so  fine  that  he  kept  feeling  quite  chipper  and  his 
lung  power  increased.  Of  course  he  was  never  speeded 
except  to  a  stiff  road  gait. 

"From  Brunswick  we  shipped  on  March  17  to  Memphis 
and  there  began  his  preparation  for  the  coming  season.     The 
trip  took  two  days  and  when  he  had  rested  out  I  began  to  give 
him  miles.     My  note  book  of  his  miles  shows  these  entries 
March    23—2:57;    March    24—2:55;    March    25—2:51 
March  26—2:49^2;   March  28,   first  repeat— 2:54,   2:45 
March  30—2:56,  2:421/2;  March  31   and  April  1— Rain 
April  2,  first  three  heat  work— 2:57,  2:42,  2:37l/>;  April 
5—3:00,  2:45,  2:39l/>;  April  7—2:54,  2:38,  2:301/.;  April 
9—2:56,   2:35,   2:28"   April    11— Rain;    April    13—3:00, 
2:42l/>,     2:31;     April     15-17— Rain;     April     18—2:54, 
2:321/^;  April  20—2:56,  2:35,  2:28l/>,  2:22;  April  23— 
3:00,^2:38,   2:38,   2:281/,;   April   26—2:21,   2:31,   2:21, 
2:1914;  April  29— 2:52,"2:28l/o,  2:181/2;  May  3—2:38, 
2:31,  2:201/),  2:17,  last  quarter  in  32  seconds;  May  5  and 
6— Rain;  May  7—3:08,  2:421/2,  2:31;  May  9—3:00,  2:32, 
2:231/),  2:17,  2:16^/2,  last  quarter  in  30  seconds. 

"That  ended  the  Memphis  training  and  on  Friday  the 
13th  we  shipped  to  North  Randall  and  from  May  14th  when 
we  arrived  I  allowed  Uhlan  three  days  rest.  May  17  he 
worked  in  2:421/,,  2:2814  and  on  May  19th  in  2:54,  2:341/2, 
2:26,  2:19,  2:15.  Then — more  rain  and  a  lay  up  of  five 
days.  May  24  he  worked  in  2:54,  2:36,  2:2814  and  on  May 
27th  in  2:54,  2:341/4,  2:2114,  2:16,  2:161/2,  last  quarter  in 
30  seconds.  More  rain  and  nothing  Init  jogging,  three  to 
five  miles  daily.  Then  came  real  Summer  weather  and  I 
went  back  to  pick  up  some  of  the  stitches  we  had  dropped  and 
the  resumed  work  was  as  follows: 

June  6—2:58,  2:50;  June  8—2:53,  2:35,  2:231^,  2:25; 
June  10— 2:36l/o;  2:24,  2:15,  2:12;  June  14—2:151/., 
2:36,  2:26,  2:27'l4;  June  17—2:56,  2:34,  2:251/.,  2:13, 
2:10;  June  21—2:58,  2:361/).  2:30,  2:231/,;  June  24— 
2:55,  2:34,  2:231/2,  2:15,  2:0"914,  2:091/2,  last  half  in  59 
seconds  in  preparation  this  work  to  wagon  the  last  two  heats, 
for  what  was  to  be    Uhlan's   first    1910    public    appearance. 


44  THE    TWO-MINUTE    TROTTERS 

June  28^2:5414,  2:36,  2:2514,  2:24.  The  public  appear- 
ance  postponed,  because  Mr.  Billings  could  not  get  to  Cleve- 
land on  the  date  set  I  worked,  July  1,  in  2:28,  2:35,  2:23^/2, 
2:16l/>.  2:081/2,  first  half  in  a  minute;  2:061/2,  last  half  in 
59l/>  seconds,  the  last  two  miles  to  wagon. 

"Jogged  until  July  6th  he  worked  that  day  in  2:58, 
2:351/2,  2:251/2,  2:221/2.  On  July  9th  he  was  driven  in  pub- 
lic by  Mr.  Billings  to  wagon  a  mile  in  2:02')45  and  his  warm- 
ing up  miles  for  that  effort  were  2:35,  2:2114,  2:15.  The 
mile  in  2\02!^/^  was  a  remarkable  one,  for  in  addition  to  a 
strong  wind  the  track  was  rough  and  Uhlan  trotted  in  second 
horse  position  the  entire  mile.  The  last  half  of  that  mile  was 
trotted  in  59'%^  seconds. 

"Mr.  Billings  now  felt  that  Uhlan  could  trot  a  mile  in  two 
minutes,  and  so  requested  me  to  prepare  him  for  an  attempt 
at  the  North  Randall  Grand  Circuit  meeting,  then  just  four 
weeks  away.  To  be  sure  we  had  been  working  with  that  in 
view,  and  I  had  so  directed  my  work  from  the  beginning. 
Going  on  with  the  preparation  for  the  North  Randall  mile,  I 
worked  the  horse,  to  cart,  except  occasionally  to  wagon,  as  I 
note,  these  miles: 

July  13^3:00,  2:32l/>,  2:211/>;  July  15—2:3414, 
2:22l/>,  2: 121/7,  2:09,  2:05,last  half  in  59  seconds;  last  two 
miles  t'o  wagon'^  July  19^3 :00,  2 :34,  2 :25,  2 :22.  And  now 
we  had  reached  the  point  for  a  regular  test.  Mr.  Billings 
felt  the  horse  should  be  'searched'  before  he  started.  So  on 
July  22  I  worked  him  in  2:54,  2:321/2,  2:181/.  to  cart,  then 
hooked  him  to  a  sulky  and  drove  him  a  mile  in  2:09'%|.,  last 
quarter  in  29  seconds.  And  then  the  burning  question  was 
put  to  him.  He  answered  it  with  a  first  quarter  in  30  seconds, 
a  second  quarter  in  30  seconds,  a  third  quarter  in  30  seconds, 
and  then  we  'met  up'  with  a  float,  right  in  at  the  pole  and  had 
to  take  back  in  more  than  a  hurry,  slow  down  and  go  around 
the  obstruction,  yet  he  trotted  the  final  quarter  in  30l/>  sec- 
onds, making  the  mile  2:001/),  as  I  timed  it.  I  had  a  man  in 
the  stand  to  time  the  mile  and  he  caught  it  in  2:0014-  No 
other  watches  were  held.  That  mile  was,  for  good  and  suf- 
ficient reasons,  to  be  my  secret.  That  mile  was  trotted  on 
Friday.     He  was  not  harnessed  again  until  July  26,  when  he 


UHLAN  45 

was  jogged  only — three  miles.  The  same  thing  next  day. 
July  28  he  was  worked  3:00,  2:35,  2:28,  2:22,  2:19.  On 
August  8,  one  week  before  he  was  to  start  at  North  Randall, 
I  decided  to  give  him  his  final  strong  work.  I  gave  him  four 
miles  in  2:58,  2:29,  2:20,  2:11,  then  hitched  him  to  wagon 
for  a  mile  in  2:03,  last  half  in  one  minute,  well  within  him- 
self. I  let  him  step  another  mile  in  2:07^  and  I  felt  that  he 
was  ready.  He  was  not  harnessed  on  Tuesday,  August  2, 
but  two  days  later  he  was  worked  in  2:28,  2:20,  2:21;  on 
August  7th  in  3:00,  2:36;  on  August  8th  I  jogged  him  two 
miles  to  cart  in  2:2lVU  and  2:21,  moved  him  the  third  mile, 
to  wagon,  in  2:09,  last  quarter  in  30  seconds,  and  he  started 
to  wagon  to  beat  2:0214'  ^^'  Billings  driving,  and  trotted 
the  mile  in  2:01,  tying  the  world's  wagon  record  'in  the  open' 
made  by  Lou  Dillon  at  Memphis  in  1904. 

"That  was  a  great  mile,  trotted  wide  and  under  most  un- 
favorable conditions,  but  it  disappointed  me,  as  I  had  hoped 
it  would  be  the  first  ever  driven  to  wagon  in  the  open  in  two 
minutes  or  better.     Day  and  track  were  not  right. 

"As  Uhlan  was  to  start  again  at  the  same  meeting,  I  w^as 
anxious  for  Mr.  Dillon  to  drive  him  to  wagon.  But  he  in- 
sisted that  I  drive  to  sulky,  and  so  that  was  the  program. 
Uhlan  was  not  harnessed  the  day  after  his  2:01  mile,  just 
given  walking  exercise  to  halter,  and  was  jogged  three  miles 
on  Wednesday  and  about  the  same  on  Thursday.  Friday  was 
the  day  for  his  supreme  effort.  I  did  not  want  to  drive  him; 
I  had  been  sick  on  Thursday  and  then  I  hardly  felt  equal  to 
the  occasion.  But  it  was  passed  up  to  me,  and  as  there  was 
no  way  out  of  it  I  drove  the  mile. 

"To  prepare  for  it  I  gave  the  gelding  two  miles — 2:32 
and  2:20  to  cart,  and  a  third  to  sulky  in  2:11^4,  last  quarter 
in  31.  There  was  a  strong  wind  and  I  had  to  take  him  back 
through  the  third  quarter  to  a  2:03  clip.  And  the  day  was 
not  quite  warm  enough,  I  thought,  to  get  the  best  results.  John 
Dickerson  drove  the  runner.  We  went  to  the  quarter  in  29*^ 
seconds,  to  the  half  in  59,  and  to  the  three-quarters  in  1 :29'^ 
with  the  last  quarter  in  29  seconds.  I  believe  the  mile 
would  have  been  1:58^4  under  more  favorable  conditions. 
Anyway,  it  was  a  new  world's  record  for  trotting  geldings, 


46  THE    TWO-MINUTE    TROTTERS 

and  the  way  Uhlan  came  out  of  it,  the  fine  fettle  he  was  in, 
caused  me  to  have  high  hopes  for  his  future.  He  was  not 
harnessed  for  a  week,  then  was  jogged  two  days. 

"He  was  to  go  at  Readville  the  second  week  afterward,  to 
wagon,  and  I  kept  him  ready  for  that  performance  by  miles 
as  follows:  August  18—2:32,  2:21,  2:16,  2:10;  August  22 
—2:31,  2:181/2,  2:101/4,  2:0iy2,  the  last  mile  to  sulky,  the 
last  half  in  a  minute;  August  28,  at  Readville — 2:31, 
2:191/2,  2:16,  last  eighth  in  sixteen  seconds.  He  started  to 
wagon,  Mr.  Billings  driving,  August  30,  to  beat  2:031/0,  and 
his  mile,  2:021/2,  was  the  best,  in  my  opinion,  that  he  ever 
trotted.  The  track  was  dead  and  slow  and  there  was  a  high 
wind,  and  no  owner  except  Mr.  Billings  would  have  per- 
mitted a  start.  There  was  no  chance  to  break  records,  but  he 
would  not  disappoint  the  large  crowd,  mostly  New  England 
people,  among  whom  Uhlan  had  grown  up.  I  gave  my  charge 
three  miles  in  2:31,  2:21,  2:13,  and  had  him  ready  to  start 
early,  but  it  was  half  past  five  when  they  got  to  us.  The  rac- 
ing had  made  the  track  rough,  and  while  they  floated  it,  but 
little  was  accomplished.  Uhlan  trotted  in  2:02^,  the  first 
quarter  in  29'^  seconds,  the  half  in  a  minute,  the  three-quar- 
ters in  1 :30l/2.  He  was  tired  at  the  end,  and  that  mile  took 
more  out  of  him  than  any  other  he  had  ever  gone  while  I  had 
been  in  charge  of  him,  which  makes  me  sure  that  it  was  his 
greatest  one.  As  he  blew  out  all  right  and  quickly  I  stepped 
him  another  mile  in  2:10,  last  half  in  1:02. 

"The  next  week,  after  rain  until  everybody  was  rain  sick 
and  I  could  give  him  no  work  except  jogging  and  an  occa- 
sional brush  where  there  was  a  dry  spot,  he  started  to  wagon 
at  Hartford  and  drew  Mr.  Billings  a  great  mile — 2:011/4- 
He  did  that  off'  of  miles  in  2:23  to  2:15,  and  there  was  absol- 
utely no  life  to  the  track.  The  last  quarter  was  trotted  in  29 
seconds,  and  no  other  horse  ever  did  that  to  wagon  at  the  end 
of  a  fast  mile.  To  show  how  little  that  mile  distressed  him  I 
worked  him  a  cooling-out  trip  in  2:06,  last  half  in  a  minute, 
last  quarter  in  29  seconds. 

"At  Allentown,  Pa.,  over  the  great  and  well-kept  half- 
mile  track,  Uhlan  trotted  a  mile  in  2:051/4,  first  quarter  in 
32,  after  making  a  short  break  dodging  a  deep  shadow;  sec- 


UHLAN  47 

ond  quarter  in  3114?  third  quarter  in  31%.  The  mile 
lowered  the  record  of  2:06'%  set  by  George  G. 

"I  prepared  him  for  a  field  day  at  North  Randall  and  ex- 
pected to  give  him  a  wagon  record  of  two  minutes  or  better, 
but  it  was  impossible  for  Mr.  Billings  to  be  present  and  the 
mile  was  never  trotted.  In  preparing  him  for  the  expected 
engagement  I  set  him  down  the  last  quarter  of  the  last  work 
mile  on  October  1st,  and  he  trotted  it  in  exactly  twenty-eight 
seconds.  That  ended  his  work  for  the  year  and  I  let  him 
down  with  slow  miles,  2:28,  2:28^4?  covering  a  period  of  six 
days,  then  jogged  him  daily  until  November  7th,  and  after 
that  let  him  run  out  in  his  paddock  just  as  I  had  done  the  pre- 
vious fall. 

"His  work  for  his  first  two-minute  year  covered  a  period 
of  seven  months.  He  had  217  miles  the  right  way  of  the 
track,  exhibitions  and  work;  119  were  in  2:30  or  better;  68 
in  2:20  or  better;  44  in  2:15  or  better;  27  in  2:10  or  better; 
11,  only,  in  2:05  or  better. 

"If  any  one  who  is  interested  will  glance  back  over  the 
miles  as  given  by  dates,  he  will  see  just  how  few  fast  work 
miles  he  really  had.  He  was  never  worked  a  mile  to  his  limit. 
It  was  so  easy  for  him  to  trot  a  half  in  a  minute  that  it  meant 
little  to  him.  He  showed  that  at  Hartford,  as  I  have  already 
stated. 

"He  was  worked  to  a  long-shaft  cart  except  in  the  miles 
to  wagon  or  sulky  as  noted  in  this  narrative.  I  worked  him  in 
company  a  great  deal,  taking  him  in  and  out  among  a  lot  of 
horses.  But  his  fast  miles,  even  the  one  in  2:00^,  he  went 
alone  without  a  prompter.  I  never  allowed  the  runner  to  turn 
with  him  except  when  he  was  ready  to  start  in  a  public  mile. 
My  reason  for  that  is  that  many  horses  grow  cunning  if 
worked  with  a  runner,  and  I  wanted  him  to  know  that  when 
his  runner  came  on  the  track  it  meant  business.  He  was  one 
of  the  smartest  horses  that  ever  lived,  and  I  did  not  propose 
he  should  learn  to  cheat  me.  Also  I  taught  him  to  finish  fast, 
and  never  allowed  him  to  slow  up  at  the  wire. 

"His  system  of  training  may  be  called,  properly,  the 
'mile  on  mile'  system.  True,  he  was  given  brush  work,  but 
he  gave  most  of  that  to  himself.    That  was  on  the  days  he  was 


48  THE    TWO-MINUTE    TROTTERS 

jogged.  Some  time  during  his  exercise  he  would  'light  out', 
sprint  a  hundred  yards  or  so,  then  take  himself  back.  Some 
days  he  would  do  that  two  or  three  times,  and  was  always  al- 
lowed to  have  his  own  way  about  it.  That  appeared  to  always 
give  him  his  speed.  Track  work  he  got  to  enable  him  to 
carry  his  speed. 

"No  better  broken  horse  lives  than  Uhlan.  Automobiles, 
trolley  cars  and  other  city  contrivances  mean  nothing  to  him. 
With  but  one  bit  in  his  mouth  he  has  been  jogged  many  hun- 
dreds of  miles  on  city  streets  and  country  roads.  At  that,  so 
high  strung  is  he  that  one  would  find  it  easy  to  get  a  fight  out 
of  him,  and  in  all  probability  he  would  not  afterward  tolerate 
the  man  who  would  give  him  a  whipping  or  even  one  sharp 
blow  with  the  whip. 

"He  is  a  rugged  horse.  When  shipped  to  Georgia  the 
first  of  February,  1910,  he  weighed  1065  pounds,  and  when 
he  took  his  record  of  1:58*'^  he  weighed  965.  His  training 
feed  consists  of  twelve  quarts  of  oats  daily,  and  he  would 
like  to  make  it  sixteen;  he  has  all  the  hay  he  wants,  and  is 
quite  a  water  drinker.  He  is  not  dainty,  and  has  no  annoy- 
ing habits  of  any  kind,  for  instance,  he  never  awakens  at 
night  and  demands  to  be  fed,  and  there  is  no  better  shipper. 

"Thad.  Logan  took  care  of  him  for  me,  and  the  thorough 
manner  in  which  he  did  his  work  is  best  illustrated  by  a  re- 
mark John  Splan  made  when  he  was  led  out  for  him  at  North 
Randall  the  day  he  took  his  record  of  1:58'^.  John  looked 
him  over  and  said:  'Well,  I  have  looked  at  some  pretty  good 
trotters  in  my  time,  prepared  by  the  greatest  men  in  the  bus- 
iness, and  I  want  to  say  that  I  never  before  saw  one  that 
looked  to  be  in  such  perfect  condition.' 

"I  have  never  seen  Uhlan  seemed  distressed  but  once. 
That  was  at  the  finish  of  his  mile  in  2:021/2  to  wagon  at 
Readville,  which  is  why,  in  my  opinion,  as  I  have  said,  I 
think  it  was  the  greatest  one  he  ever  trotted.  He  was  right  on 
edge  that  day,  with  all  his  speed,  and  the  fact  that  it  took  all 
he  had  and  left  him  tired  for  the  first  and  only  time  in  my  ex- 
perience, tells  what  an  effort  he  made.  In  every  other  fast 
mile  he  has  gone  for  me  he  has  been  blown  out,  practically, 
before  the  harness  was  stripped  off  him.     Miles,  quarters  and 


"f 

/:..-, 

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t  i 

1 

UHLAN  5 1 

halves  that  would  have  put  a  crimp  in  any  other  trotter  that 
ever  lived  except  Lou  Dillon,  did  not  seem  to  affect  him  a 
particle.  The  week  after  he  trotted  those  two  miles  at  the 
Randall  meeting,  one  in  2:01  to  wagon,  the  other  in  1:58% 
to  sulky,  he  acted  like  a  boy  just  let  out  of  school.  It  was 
August  12th  that  he  trotted  in  1 :58%,  and  when  I  gave  him 
his  first  repeat  afterward,  August  18th,  he  was,  in  my  judg- 
ment, in  the  most  perfect  order  in  his  life  and  could  have 
gone  the  fastest  mile.  After  his  first  sensational  mile  in 
2:02%  to  wagon,  early  in  July,  I  was  anxious  to  see  how 
he  came  out  of  it,  for  previously  he  had  not  been  faster  than 
2:06%,  and  only  five  times  in  2:10  or  better.  I  was  not 
just  sure  what  its  effect  might  be — but  it  failed  to  put  the 
slightest  sort  of  a  kink  in  him.  Neither  did  the  mile  in 
2:00^>  that  I  asked  him  for,  to  sulky,  July  22nd. 

"About  his  shoeing.  It  has  already  been  published  that 
I  made  some  quite  radical  changes  in  this  from  the  methods 
employed  by  Proctor,  so  I  may  as  well  say  that  I  did,  but 
in  doing  so  I  do  not  want  to  be  understood  as  criticising  the 
way  in  which  Proctor  balanced  him.  When  a  trainer  can 
do  what  Proctor  did  with  Uhlan,  what  call  is  there  for  criti- 
cism? However  he  balanced  him,  balanced  he  certainly 
must  have  been.  But  every  trainer  has  his  own  ideas  of 
gait  and  balance,  and  likes  to  apply  them.  If  I  changed 
Uhlan,  it  was  not  because  I  wanted  to  criticise  Proctor,  but 
because  I  wanted  to  rig  the  horse  my  way  and  see  if  he 
would  not  go  good  so  rigged.  It  shows  what  a  great  horse 
he  was  that  he  could  break  records  rigged  both  ways.  Prob- 
ably if  he  was  now  to  pass  into  the  hands  of  some  other 
trainer,  he  might  make  changes  in  him  to  correspond  with 
his  own  ideas,  and  he  would  continue  to  break  records. 

"When  he  trotted  in  1:58%,  he  was  rigged  as  follows: 
In  front  he  wore  a  6%  ounce  shoe,  with  a  felt  pad  that 
weighed  1%  ounces,  a  pair  of  pacing  quarter  boots  that 
belonged  to  Morning  Star  2:04,  and  weighed  but  3  ounces, 
and  a  2-ounce  toe-weight.  His  toe  was  3%  inches  long, 
and  its  angle  was  45  degrees  strong.  The  shoe  was  a  bar 
shoe,  rounded  over  at  the  toe  (the  opposite  from  what  he 
wore  before  he  came  to  us,  as  he  then  had  a  grab  on  the 


^2  THE    TWO-MINUTE    TROTTERS 

toe  of  his  shoe)  and  with  two  small  grooves  there,  one 
deeper  and  broader  than  the  other,  which  feature  was  the 
invention  of  Lee  Beardsley,  the  smith  who  shod  him  through- 
out the  season,  and  the  same  man  who  used  to  shoe  Cresceus 
2:021/4.  This  double  groove  helped  to  give  him  a  foothold 
without  retarding  him,  and  I  consider  it  an  excellent  thing. 
At  the  heel  were  two  small  calks,  set  lengthwise,  about  11/4 
inches  long  and  smoothed  down  to  the  surface  of  the  shoe 
in  front.  Rigged  this  way  he  did  not  go  so  high  forward  as 
before  and  no  longer  required  elbow  boots.  Behind  he  wore 
a  3^4  ounce  swedged  bar  shoe,  his  toe  was  3^  inches  long 
and  the  angle  of  the  foot  was  49  degrees.  The  only  boots 
used  behind  were  a  pacing  coronet  boot  and  a  light  ankle 
boot,  which  weighed  as  near  nothing  as  possible. 

"When  I  started  him  over  the  half-mile  track  it  was,  of 
course,  necessary  to  make  some  changes.  I  put  on  a  3-ounce 
instead  of  a  2-ounce,  toe  weight;  a  pair  of  rolls  on  his  front 
ankles,  and,  behind,  a  pair  of  shin-ankle-and-speedy-cut 
boots,  with  hock  extensions.  I  also  hitched  him  to  a  Faber 
sulky  that  we  had  built  for  use  during  Mr.  Billings'  Europ- 
ean tour  the  year  before.  It  weighed  from  33  to  35  pounds, 
was  especially  stiff  and  strong,  and  I  hooked  him  as  far  out 
from  it  as  possible,  to  help  him  in  getting  around  the  turns. 
As  was  published  at  the  time  he  trotted  in  1:58'%[^,  he  was 
then  hitched  to  the  same  sulky  that  Lou  Dillon  pulled  when 
she  trotted  in  1:581/4,  a  Faber  built  especially  for  her  and 
weighing  24  pounds  and  1  ounce.  He  also  wore  her  harness, 
with  the  sole  exception  of  the  bit.  In  all  his  early  work 
he  wore  no  toe  weights,  they  being  put  on  the  first  time  for 
the  first  mile  that  Mr.  Billings  drove  him,  to  wagon,  in 
2:023/4,  July  9th." 

In  1911  Uhlan  gave  but  five  public  exhibitions.  The 
first  of  these  was  at  North  Randall  and  on  that  occasion  Mr. 
Billings  drove  him  a  mile  to  wagon  in  two  minutes,  a  world's 
record,  tying  that  of  Lou  Dillon,  who  also  was  driven  by 
Mr.  Billings,  and  giving  him  the  distinction  of  being  the 
only  person  who  had  driven  two  different  trotters  a  two- 
minute  mile  to  wagon.  At  that  time  no  professional  had 
driven  more  than  one  trotter  a  two-minute  mile,  and  it  was 


UHLAN  53 

not  until  1921  that  the  feat  was  accomplished  by  a  profes- 
sional, Tommy  Murphy  achieving  the  honor  at  Lexington. 
He  made  up  for  lost  time,  too,  for  he  beat  two  minutes  with 
two  different  trotters  the  same  afternoon.  The  other  exhi- 
bitions by  Uhlan  in  1911  consisted  of  an  assault  on  the  half- 
mile  wagon  record,  which  he  lowered  to  56^  seconds,  where 
it  still  stands;  a  mile  at  Lexington  in  1:59^  to  beat  the 
track  record  of  2:01^  to  sulky;  and  two  half-mile  track 
performances  which  were  histor}^  making.  At  White  River 
Junction,  Vt.,  he  lowered  the  track  record  from  2:14*^  to 
2:04^,  a  matter  of  a  mere  ten  seconds.  But  prior  to  that 
start  he  had  set  a  record  which  bids  fair  to  stand  unchal- 
lenged for  some  time.  He  was  started  at  Goshen,  N.  Y.,  to 
lower  the  track  trotting  record  of  2:08  and  all  he  did  to  it 
was  to  put  it  at  2:02^,  a  world's  record. 

Mr.  Tanner  tells  us  that  his  training  was  practically  the 
same  as  for  his  1910  season.  As  he  was  not  exhibited  for 
money  it  naturally  followed  that  he  was  used  as  his  owner 
desired,  and  the  result  was  that  the  track  management  was 
fortunate  indeed  to  secure  him  for  an  exhibition. 

The  following  year  he  made  the  famous  trip  to  the  land 
of  the  Czar.  That  was  before  Russia  became  Soviet.  But 
on  his  return  he  was  prepared  for  a  few  assaults  on  the 
watch  and  again  proved  his  ability  to  perform  any  task  set 
for  him.  On  October  8th  he  was  started  to  beat  the  world's 
record  trotting,  1:58^^,  and  accomplished  the  undertaking 
by  trotting  a  mile  in  1:58.  Three  days  later,  with  Lewis 
Forrest  as  his  mate,  he  was  started  to  beat  the  world's  record 
of  2:07'^  to  pole,  and  the  pair  trotted  a  truly  wonderful 
mile  in  2:03^4,  Uhlan  carrying  Lewis  Forrest  most  of  the 
way.  Charlie  Mitchell,  also  owned  by  Mr.  Billings,  had 
been  conditioned  to  go  the  mile  to  pole  with  Uhlan,  but  fell 
lame  in  warming  up  and  could  not  start.  He  had  been  care- 
fully prepared,  for  one  of  his  legs  was  about  gone,  but  it 
was  Mr.  Tanner's  hope  that  he  would  last  long  enough  for 
the  one  supreme  effort.  His  ambition  was  to  set  the  pole 
record  at  two  minutes  or  better.  He  knew  he  could  depend 
upon  Uhlan,  and  it  is  no  secret  that  he  had  all  the  confidence 
in  the  world  in  Charlie  Mitchell,  who  had  shown  him  a  lot 


54  THE    TWO-MINUTE    TROTTERS 

that  was  not  known  at  that  time  to  very  many  people.  So 
it  can  be  safely  said  that  as  the  day  for  the  Lexington  trial 
approached  "Doc"  was  confident  he  could  do  what  he  had 
set  out  to  do.  It  was  not  a  question  of  merely  lowering  the 
record.  The  object  was  a  two-minute  mile.  And  Charlie 
Mitchell  had  convinced  him  that  he  was  up  to  what  was  ex- 
pected of  him.  That  he  was  one  of  the  fastest  trotters  ever 
trained  is  certain.  Indeed,  a  good  authority  has  but  recently 
said  that  in  his  opinion  Charlie  was  as  fast  as  Uhlan,  and 
then  he  added:  'T  am  not  so  sure  that  he  was  only  just  as 
fast;  I  believe  a  mile  in  1:56  would  have  been  within  his 
capacity  that  fall  had  he  remained  sound.  He  would  have 
done  some  things  at  the  Lexington  meeting  that  people  would 
be  talking  about  to  this  day."  But  the  ailing  leg  went  down 
and  another  two-minute  record  was  thereby  missed. 

During  the  season  of  1913  Uhlan  trotted  on  exhibition 
mile  in  l:59l/>  at  North  Randall.  It  was  not  an  effort  to 
do  anything  except  go  better  than  two  minutes.  Late  in  July 
he  lowered  the  Comstock  Park  track,  Crand  Rapids,  record 
to  1:59%;  the  Hamline  (Minnesota  State  Fair  track)  record 
to  1:59')4;  the  Galesburg,  111.,  track  record  to  2:001/4  from 
2:03'*y^,  day  and  track  both  bad;  then  went  to  Lexington 
and  established  a  world's  record  of  27  seconds  for  a  quarter 
of  a  mile  and  with  running  mate  set  the  world's  record  for 
that  style  of  hitch  at  1:541/2,  a  remarkable  exhibition. 

That,  no  doubt,  ended  the  public  career  of  Uhlan.  He 
is  a  model  saddle  horse,  and  for  that  purpose  Mr.  Billings 
uses  him  if  he  is  used  at  all.  And  as  he  has  passed  to  private 
life  one  can  but  regret  that  he  is  gone,  for  no  nobler  speci- 
man  of  the  trotting  breed  has  ever  appeared,  and  we  may 
not  look  upon  his  like  again. 

Mr.  Robert  Proctor,  of  Readville,  Mass.,  who  "discov- 
ered" Uhlan  and  in  a  few  lessons  transformed  him  into  a 
real  trotter,  has  written  a  detailed  story  of  his  discovery 
and  the  events  in  the  life  of  Uhlan  while  that  great  trotter 
was  in  his  hands.     It  is  given  precisely  as  written: 

"The  summer  of  1908  I  had  been  away  racing  and  got 
home  the  early  part  of  August.  At  that  time  Mr.  Charles 
Sanders  told  me  to  keep  watch  for  a  nice  looking  young 


UHLAN  55 

horse  that  would  do  to  matinee  and  would  also  make  a  nice 
road  horse.  The  Boston  Matinee  Club  was  then  in  its  hey- 
dey,  and  Mr.  Arthur  Parker,  of  Bedford,  the  breeder  of 
Uhlan,  had  been  at  Readville  two  months,  having  the  colts 
he  owned  trained.  Eddie  McGrath  was  training  for  him, 
and  one  day  I  noticed  him  driving  a  black  colt  that  could 
trot  good  but  after  going  a  short  distance  would  break,  go 
into  a  pace  and  chop  his  quarters.  I  inquired  what  he  was, 
and  they  told  me  a  three-year-old  called  Uhlan.  I  got  the 
price  and  said  nothing  about  it  except  to  Mr.  Sanders.  I 
told  him  I  thought  he  would  be  a  good  buy  and  that  when 
he  was  balanced  would  trot  in  2:10,  which  was  right  good 
in  those  days,  as  we  were  not  thinking  as  much  of  two-minutes 
as  we  do  now. 

"I  kept  drumming  at  Mr.  Sanders,  until  finally  we  ar- 
ranged with  Mr.  Parker  to  show  the  colt.  They  were  pre- 
paring to  move  back  to  the  farm  from  Readville,  and  the 
day  before  they  were  to  go  they  showed  the  colt  and  he  went 
a  mile  in  2:211/2.  Mr.  Sanders  came  by  my  stable  and  asked 
how  I  liked  the  colt,  and  I  told  him  he  would  make  a  nice 
horse  and  one  that  would  trot  in  2:10  when  balanced.  He 
said  that  he  liked  the  looks  of  him  very  much  but  that  they 
wanted  too  much  money  for  him — the  price  was  around 
$1,500 — and  that  he  did  not  think  he  would  buy.  So  I  said, 
'they  are  going  home  tomorrow  and  if  you  don't  buy  him 
I  will  before  they  leave.'  His  answer  to  that  was,  'if  you 
think  that  well  of  him  I  will  see  what  I  can  do,'  and  he  went 
over  to  the  Parker  barn,  bought  the  colt  and  had  him  sent 
right  over  to  me. 

"It  was  up  to  me  then  to  make  good.  The  Globe  and 
The  Herald,  leading  dailies  of  Boston,  began  telling  about 
Bob  Proctor  buying  a  gold  brick  for  Chas.  Sanders.  For 
three  days  after  he  came  to  me  I  did  not  put  a  harness  on 
him,  but  poulticed  his  front  heels,  which  were  very  sore 
from  chopping  his  quarters.  Then  I  jogged  him  for  three 
days,  shod  him,  and  when  I  began  to  drive  him,  believe  me, 
I  was  very  careful  not  to  let  him  make  a  break.  For  about 
three  weeks  I  gave  him  miles  from  three  minutes  to  2:40, 
five  heats  twice  a  week,  but  at  times  finishing  those  slow 


^6  THE    TWO-MINUTE    TROTTERS 

miles  I  would  let  him  move  after  passing  the  wire  if  there 
was  no  one  looking,  and  I  began  to  think  he  was  about  right. 
One  day  Mr.  Sanders  phoned  that  there  would  be  one  more 
matinee,  that  he  would  like  to  start  the  colt,  and  for  me  to 
name  him.  The  race  was  to  come  about  the  last  of  Septem- 
ber and  that  gave  me  about  three  more  weeks  in  which  to 
get  ready,  so  I  began  to  move  along  a  little — to  a  mile  in 
2:25,  last  quarter  in  33  seconds,  and  he  was  flying  at  the 
finish.  This  showed  me  that  he  was  0.  K.,  and  one  week 
before  he  was  to  matinee  I  decided  to  show  him  to  myself, 
and  say  nothing  to  anyone. 

"I  began  to  work  him  about  ten  o'clock  in  the  morning, 
working  him  five  easy  miles,  the  fastest  in  2:19.  That 
brought  me  to  noon,  and  as  there  were  few  people  at  the 
track  that  time  of  year  and  the  boys  were  all  at  dinner  I  said: 
'Here  is  my  chance.'  I  went  out,  scored  twice,  went  to  the 
half  in  just  1:10,  the  third  quarter  in  34,  and  the  mile  in 
2:14,  which  made  the  last  quarter  30  seconds.  I  said  noth- 
ing about  it,  but  was  sure  I  had  a  great  trotter. 

"Tlien  came  the  race,  but  the  horse  that  Uhlan  was  to 
start  against  fell  lame  and  the  event  was  canceled.  So  I 
suggested  that  he  go  to  see  if  the  judges  would  let  him 
start  in  the  fast  class  with  horses  that  could  trot  in  2:12  to 
2:15.  He  thought  I  was  crazy,  for  1  had  not  told  him  what 
I  had  done  with  the  colt.  But  he  finally  went  and  the  judges 
were  willing,  but  he  was  quite  nervous  about  it  all.  I  as- 
sured him  the  horse  would  win  if  he  would  not  grab  hold  of 
him  or  hit  him  with  the  whip,  but  go  right  along  with  the 
rest.  He  did  as  I  wanted  him  to  do  and  won  the  heat  in 
2:16^  easily.  The  other  drivers  told  him  they  had  allowed 
him  to  win  that  heat  but  would  beat  him  the  next.  That  made 
him  nervous  again  and  he  came  for  further  instructions. 
I  told  him  to  go  right  off  with  them  and  he  would  win  easily. 
They  went  away  fast,  down  to  the  half  in  1:05,  Uhlan  off 
by  himself,  and  he  won  the  heat  by  100  yards  in  2:13%. 
After  the  race  I  told  Mr.  Sanders  he  had  not  yet  seen  Uhlan 
trot,  that  if  he  would  let  me  hook  him  to  sulky  I  would  show 
him  a  mile  in  2:08.  'Do  you  mean  that?'  he  asked,  and 
added  'it  can't  be  possible.'     I  then  said  that  if  he  expected 


UHLAN 


57 


to  race  him  the  next  year  it  would  not  l^e  wise  to  show  him 
the  mile,  and  so  it  was  not  done.  That  ended  his  season 
and  I  let  him  down  in  his  work  and  wintered  him  nicely. 
"In  1909  I  started  jogging  him  the  first  of  Fehruary, 
trained  him  along  nicely  during  the  Summer  and  entered 
him  in  the  $50,000  handicap  and  also  in  the  $5,000  Blue 
Hill.  I  was  keeping  the  horse  under  cover  so  as  to  get  a 
position  in  the  handicap  as  near  the  front  line  as  possible. 
But  Mr.  Sanders  came  out  one  day  and  wanted  to  see  him 
beat  2:10.  Against  my  wishes  I  drove  him  the  requested 
mile;  worked  him  six  heats,  the  fifth  in  2:0714),  last  quarter 
in  29  seconds.  His  first  start  w^as  in  the  handicap,  and  with 
so  many  starters  he  was  excited  and  was  turned  the  wrong 
way  of  the  track  when  the  gong  sounded,  and  was  out  of  the 
money.  Two  days  later  I  started  him  in  the  Blue  Hill  and 
won  easily,  three  heats  around  2:10. 

"He  was  then  shipped  to  Columbus,  where  he  started  in 
the  2:10  trot  and  won  from  Teasel  and  a  dozen  more  in 
straight  heats— 2:0714,  2:0714,  2:08.  The  second  week 
he  won  the  2:09  trot  from  Locust  Jack  and  nine  others.  Jack 
won  the  first  heat  in  2:09^4  ^^^^  Uhlan  won  the  race,  trot- 
ting his  miles  in  2:08,  2:08l/o.  At  Lexington  he  won  the 
Walnut  Hall  Cup,  defeating  Spanish  Queen  and  eight  more 
in  2:0914,  2:0714,  2:08,  and  that  was  his  last  start  for  that 
year. 

"For  191wT  gave  him  as  nice  a  preparation  as  I  knew 
how  and  started  him  first  at  North  Randall  in  the  2:07  trot, 
beating  San  Francisco,  Lady  Jones  and  others  in  2:06^, 
2:03'^45  which  is  pretty  good  evidence  that  he  was  fairly 
well  prepared.  At  Fort  Erie  he  beat  practically  the  same 
field  in  slower  time.  Then  the  North  Randall  contingent  was 
after  me  red  hot  to  go  back  to  that  track  and  race  Hamburg 
Belle.  I  did  not  want  to  make  that  race  until  after  the 
Columbus  meeting,  but  finally  agreed  to  ship  him  back  from 
Buffalo  and  send  my  other  horses  on  to  Readville.  The  night 
before  the  race  I  told  the  crowd  at  the  club  house  that  I  would 
make  the  mare  beat  her  record,  which  was  then  2:021/^,  if 
she  defeated  me.  Some  of  them  laughed  at  that.  When  I 
warmed  my  trotter  up  for  the  race  I  thought  I  could  win  and 


^8  THE    TWO-MINUTE    TROTTERS 

told  a  few  friends  so  and  I  bet  some  on  my  chances.  In  the 
draw  the  mare  got  the  pole.  I  raced  him  lapped  on  her  and 
did  not  try  until  we  had  passed  the  draw  gate.  Then  he 
closed  and  at  the  wire  I  could  not  tell  who  was  ahead. 
Neither  could  Billy  Andrews,  who  asked  me  'who  won  it?' 
It  was  too  close  for  me.'  Then  he  saw  the  time  on  the  an- 
nouncer and  shouted  'look  at  the  time — 2:01^/4.'  The  sec- 
ond heat  I  decided  to  take  her  away  faster,  so  we  were  at  the 
half  in  59^/4  and  I  had  a  neck  the  best  of  the  argument.  After 
we  passed  the  half  my  horse  made  a  misstep.  I  looked  down 
two  or  three  times  but  we  were  going  so  fast  I  could  not  see 
what  the  trouble  was.  He  finally  made  a  break  near  the 
five-eighths  pole,  then  I  discoverd  the  cause  of  his  trouble 
and  pulled  up  and  was  distanced.  The  quarter  boot  had 
worked  in  between  the  shoe  and  the  foot  and  that  caused 
the  break,  the  only  one,  by  the  way,  he  ever  made  with  me. 

''After  that  race  I  was  more  confident  than  ever  that  he 
could  beat  the  mare,  and  so  the  race  for  Readville  was  ar- 
ranged. I  raced  her  the  same  way  I  had  done  at  North 
Randall,  as  she  drew  the  pole  again,  and  in  the  first  heat  I 
had  her  beaten  at  the  seven-eighths;  won  the  heat  sitting 
still  in  2:031/4.  The  second  heat  I  let  her  take  the  pole  at 
the  eighth,  lapped  my  horse  on  her  wheel  until  we  reached 
the  three-quarter  hope,  then  started  after  her  and  beat  her 
handily  in  2:041/4- 

"They  would  not  race  Uhlan  any  more  and  as  I  was 
off^ered  a  purse  to  beat  2:031/2  at  Columubs  I  took  the  offer. 
The  day  set  for  us  was  not  very  favorable,  but  rather  than 
disappoint  the  audience  I  started,  for  I  felt  that  Uhlan  could 
trot  all  the  way  at  the  outside  fence  and  beat  2:031/2-  I 
scored  him  twice  and  drove  him  to  the  half  in  1 :0214  and 
he  trotted  the  rest  of  the  way  in  a  minute.  That  was  the 
day  I  should  have  beaten  two  minutes  with  him,  for  he  was 
equal  to  it,  I  am  sure.  He  was  booked  to  try  it  at  Lexington, 
hut  the  second  week  at  Columbus  Mr.  Billings  bought  him, 
and  that  ended  my  connection  with  the  greatest  trotter  that 
ever  wore  harness." 

Uhlan  was  bred  by  Mr.  Arthur  H.  Parker,  Bedford, 
Mass.,  and  was  by  Bingen — Blondella  by  Sir  Walter,  Jr. 


CO 

to 


H 

o 

X 

< 

u 


Here  uas  a  champion.     In  every  stride 
He  moved  like  one  ivho  Time  defied. 

— Anonymous. 


LEE   AXWORTHY 

World's  Champion  Trotting  Stallion 
Record  1:5814 

EE  AXWORTHY'S  wonderful,  though  very  short, 
career  presents  one  of  the  many  oddities  which 
spring  from  horse  trading.  At  his  time  he  was  the 
best  bred  stallion  that  had  appeared  in  the  ranks  of  the  trot- 
ters of  extreme  speed,  yet  there  was  a  time,  in  the  early 
months  of  his  life  that  he  seemed  destined,  despite  his  mar- 
velous blood  lines,  to  become  a  candidate  for  the  discard.  No 
fault  can  be  attributed  to  his  first  trainer,  a  man  of  infinite 
patience  and  of  marked  success  in  his  chosen  profession. 
Too  much  credit  cannot  be  given  to  the  second  man  who 
handled  the  colt,  for  it  was  through  wonderful  skill  and  per- 
sistence that  he  finally  brought  the  youngster  around  to  the 
right  way  of  going  and  developed  in  him  the  marvelous 
speed  which  eventually  made  him  the  champion  trotting  stal- 
lion with  a  record  of  1:5814-  Nor  can  the  third  trainer  who 
handled  him  and  who  had  the  good  fortune  to  drive  him  to 
his  record,  be  denied  the  great  credit  due  him  in  the  making 
of  this  fast  trotter.  The  story  as  it  unfolds  will  show  the 
part  each  of  the  three  took  in  the  creation  of  a  champion, 
for  Lee  Axworthy's  record  still  stands,  at  the  beginning  of 
1922,  as  the  best  for  a  trotting  stallion. 

This  colt,  bred  at  Ardmaer  Farm,  Raritan,  N.  J.,  where 
his  sire  was  owned  at  that  time,  was  bought  at  public  sale 
by  a  client  of  Walter  Cox.  Walter  gave  him  as  much  edu- 
cation as  a  yearling  as  he  would  take,  which  was  not  enough 
"to  hurt",  for  the  truth  is  that  the  youngster  did  not  show 
very   much   to   indicate  that   he   was   royallv   bred.      In   his 


62  THE    TWO-MINUTE    TROTTERS 

two-year-old  form  he  was  never  known  to  exhibit  anything 
to  make  the  rail  birds  as  much  as  "peep"  and  in  the  early 
summer  of  that  year  after  taking  a  time  record  a  little  below 
2:30  he  figured  in  one  of  the  romantic  horse  trades  which 
help  to  add  interest  to  the  great  sport  of  racing.  No  one 
has  ever  been  able  to  say  who  got  the  worst  of  this  historic 
"swap"  and  it  is  no  sure  thing,  no  matter  what  happened 
subsequently,  that  in  the  long  run  one  party  to  it  profited 
more  than  the  other.  A  current  story  tells  of  two  Missour- 
ians  who  traded  horses  and  as  all  the  neighbors  knew  both 
horses  that  figured  in  the  trade  were  bad  horses  the  matter 
was  discussed  a  great  deal  at  the  corner  grocery.  At  the  end 
of  one  of  the  discussions  among  the  puzzled  gossips  one 
remarked:  "What  mystifies  me  is  how  in  the  world  they 
happened  to  git  it  on  one  another." 

It  happens  that  nobody  was  trying  to  put  anything  across 
in  the  trade  that  made  Lee  Axworthy  a  member  of  the  Pas- 
time Stable  of  Cleveland.  The  story  of  that  trade  is  told  in 
detail  in  another  chapter  of  this  volume  under  the  title: 
"The  World's  Champion  Two-Minute  Horse  Trade".  An- 
other colt.  Prince  Loree  2:00-2:03^  figured  in  the  trade. 
It  happened  that  Prince  Loree  proved  a  disappointment  and 
for  his  new  owners  was  never  worth  a  dollar  yet  eventually 
became  a  champion.  But  that  is  another  story  and  will  be 
found  in  the  chapter  of  this  book  which  tells  of  Prince 
Loree. 

That  fall,  1913,  the  bay  colt  was  taken  to  Thomasville, 
Ga.,  with  the  rest  of  the  stable  and  W.  J.  Andrews  continued 
his  education,  which  up  to  that  time  had  not  amounted  to 
much  because  the  colt  declined  to  take  part  in  it.  He  was 
much  like  the  wife  of  the  mountain  district  representative  in 
the  Kentucky  legislature  who  was  invited  to  attend  the 
"opera"  at  Frankfort  and  who  replied,  "Yes,  I  reckon  ITI 
go  'long.  But  I  don't  low  to  take  no  part."  Lee  declined  for 
many  days.  Andrews  persisted.  It  is  recorded  that  the  day 
of  Lee's  banishment  was  about  to  arrive  for  his  owners  had 
advised  their  trainer  to  "throw  him  away".  Fortunately 
for  all  concerned  on  the  day  of  reckoning  the  colt  showed  his 
trainer  enough  to  justify  further  effort  and  he  was  given  the 


LEE    AXWORTHY  63 

chance  that  made  him.  His  career  as  a  three-year-old  was 
such  as  to  stamp  him  among  the  truly  great,  his  race  in  the 
Kentucky  Futurity  being  enough  to  lift  him  to  a  high  plane 
among  trotters. 

It  was  as  a  four-year-old  that  he  both  shone  brightly  in 
the  trotting  firmament  and  also  went  into  an  eclipse  which 
at  one  time  threatened  to  be  total  and  final.  He  again 
proved  his  worth  as  a  game,  consistent  race  horse  then  fell  a 
victim  to  a  mysterious  sickness  and  was  retired  for  the  year. 
In  midsummer  Mr.  Andrews  suff^ered  a  sunstroke  that  per- 
manently retired  him  from  the  ranks  of  active  trainers  and 
race  drivers  and  Lee  Axworthy  was  placed  in  the  hands  of 
Mr.  Ben  F.  White  whose  consummate  skill  and  care  kept  Lee 
Axworthy  on  the  road  to  fame  that  Mr.  Andrews  had  blazed. 
It  is  easy  to  say  that  a  trainer  was  ''handed  a  horse  ready- 
made*'  but,  as  Mr.  Sanders  has  already  pointed  out  in  his 
chapter  on  Lou  Dillon,  a  very  fast  trotter  is  much  like  a 
violin  which  put  away  at  night  all  in  tune  must  be  tuned  up 
again  the  next  day.  So  Mr.  White  at  least  had  to  keep  Lee 
Axworthy  in  tune.  That  he  did  and  did  it  well  is  history 
and  no  chapter  in  the  life  of  that  worthy  gentleman  is 
brighter  than  the  one  which  tells  of  his  great  success  with 
Lee  Axworthy.     And  it  is  with  that  we  now  are  about  to  deal. 

In  the  hands  of  Mr.  White,  during  the  season  of  1916, 
Lee  Axworthy  trotted  five  diff^erent  miles  in  two  minutes  or 
better  and  won  the  stallion  crown  at  Lexington,  Ky.,  October 
4th,  with  his  grand  mile  in  l:58l4'  The  ability  with  which 
this  great  trotter  was  kept  in  superb  condition  is  shown  by 
the  fact  that  at  every  engagement  he  did  as  much  as  was  ex- 
pected of  him. 

Mr.  White  furnishes,  for  this  volume,  the  following  brief 
story  of  the  preparation  of  the  trotter  for  his  record-breaking 
campaign: 

"I  commenced  Lee  Axworthy's  training  the  first  day  of 
January,  1916,  at  Thomasville,  Ga.,  where  we  wintered  the 
horses  of  the  Pastime  Stable  as  was  the  custom.  I  gave  him 
jog  work  from  four  to  six  miles  every  day  but  never  more 
than  six  miles. 

"On  the  first  day  of  March  I  began  to  give  him  slow 


64  THE    TWO-MINUTE    TROTTERS 

miles.     These  were  around  three  minutes  and  by  the  first  of 
May  I  had  asked  him  to  increase  the  clip  to  miles  in  2:30. 

"We  then  shipped  the  horses  to  Lexington,  Ky.,  and 
shortly  after  we  reached  there  I  began  to  ask  him  for  miles 
at  2:20.  Of  course  this  was  on  a  mile  track  (the  track 
at  Thomasville  is  a  half-mile).  I  would  work  him  twice 
each  week,  three  heats  one  work  out  and  four  heats  the 
next.  After  he  began  working  around  2:15  I  would  step 
him  the  last  quarter  at  a  two-minute  gait.  Then  I  would 
step  him  the  first  quarter  at  a  two-minute  gait  and  go  the 
last  end  easy.  I  did  this  until  he  could  step  away  from  the 
wire  fast  or  come  home  fast.  As  you  may  know,  after  he 
had  been  given  a  lot  of  miles  in  this  way  it  was  easy  for 
him  to  beat  2:10.  Always  a  good  feeder  and  doer  his  work 
was  never  interrupted  at  all. 

"I  worked  him  a  great  many  miles  close  to  2:10,  then 
I  dropped  him  about  two  seconds  each  week  until  about 
the  20th  of  July  when  I  worked  him  one  mile  in  2:04.  That 
was  his  fastest  mile  before  he  started  at  North  Randall  to 
beat  the  record  for  trotting  stallions  which  he  succeeded  in 
doing,  trotting  twice  during  the  second  Grand  Circuit  meet- 
ing in  2:00^4  '^^^  beating  the  record  three-quarters  of  a 
second,  it  being  held  then  by  The  Harvester  at  2:01. 

"The  next  trial  was  to  be  at  Syracuse  at  the  time  of  the 
New  York  State  Fair  in  September.  So  I  had  about  three 
weeks  to  wait.  In  the  meantime  I  kept  him  fresh  but  stepped 
him  a  good  mile  every  four  days.  When  he  made  his  effort 
at  Syracuse  he  trotted  every  quarter  in  exactly  thirty  seconds 
and  his  mile  in  two  minutes  made  him  the  first  two-minute 
trotting  stallion. 

"After  that  effort  I  continued  to  work  him  every  four 
days  and  would  ask  him  to  step  one  good  mile  in  every 
work-out.  Part  of  his  work  was  given  him  at  Columbus 
where  he  had  no  start  and  over  that  track  1  worked  him 
two  different  miles  in  2:02.  We  then  started  him  at  Lex- 
ington, on  October  4th,  and  he  reduced  the  stallion  trotting 
record  to  1:591/2  and  on  October  7th  he  further  lowered  it 
to  1:581/4.  At  the  same  meeting  Mr.  Devereux  drove  him 
to  the  world's  wagon  record  for  trotting  stallions — 2:02%. 


LEE    AXWORTHY  65 

"Lee  Axworthy  wore  an  open  bridle,  plain  snaffle  and 
check  bit;  he  went  with  his  head  checked  just  about  even 
with  his  shoulders.  He  wore  close  fitting  quarter  boots, 
no  toe  weights;  his  front  shoes  weighed  six  ounces  and  were 
plain  with  crease  in  the  toe.  His  hind  shoes  were  4  ounces 
in  weight  each  and  were  swedged.  His  front  toes  were  3^/^ 
inches  and  his  hind  toes  were  3^  inches." 

The  two-minute  miles  trotted  by  Lee  Axworthy  indicates 
in  their  fractional  time  his  marvelous  speed.  For  instance 
in  his  first  assault  on  the  stallion  record  he  trotted  the  last 
half  in  fifty-nine  and  a  half  seconds.  His  Syracuse  mile, 
as  already  told  by  Mr.  W  hite  was  trotted  at  the  even  rate 
of  thirty  seconds  to  every  quarter,  a  superb  piece  of  rating 
both  on  the  part  of  the  driver  as  well  as  the  horse.  The 
record  mile  of  1 :58l4  ^t  Lexington  was  notable  for  the 
extreme  flight  of  speed  for  the  first  half,  which  was  covered 
in  581/2  seconds  yet  the  final  quarter  was  done  in  30'^4- 
Great  as  he  proved  himself  to  be  in  assaults  against  Father 
Time  those  who  saw  all  of  his  performances  will  probably 
agree  that  he  shone  with  equal  splendor  at  racing.  He 
showed  his  worth  in  the  M.  and  M.,  which  he  won  and  it 
stood  out  amazingly  in  his  contest  with  Peter  Volo.  Though 
he  was  beaten  the  first  heat  in  2:02  he  was  fire  and  sword  in 
the  second  heat  and  when  he  won  it  in  2:0314  every  spectator 
knew  the  race  was  as  good  as  over.  Sickness,  never  ac- 
counted for,  took  him  out  of  the  fighting  arena  shortly  after 
his  North  Randall  victory  over  Peter  Volo  and  no  doubt 
deprived  him  of  piling  up  a  great  money-winning  score  on 
the  Grand  Circuit. 

The  writer  has  in  mind  that  he  was  somewhat  inclined 
to  '"wing"  with  his  right  foot  but  he  does  not  recall  having 
noticed  this  peculiarity  of  gait  when  he  trotted  his  two- 
minute  miles.  His  ability  to  get  away  was  marvelous  and 
it  did  not  appear  that  any  extra  effort  on  the  part  of  his 
driver  was  necessary  to  get  him  to  leave  the  wire  almost 
at  the  speed  of  a  thoroughbred.  He  was  a  most  beautiful 
horse  and  he  had  all  the  air  of  a  champion  and  had  about 
him,  in  his  whole  demeanor,  that  intangible  thing  which  is  best 
known  as  class.     While  his  record  in  a  race  is  but  2:031/4 


1:011/4 

30% 

2:00% 

1:00% 

301/2 

2:00% 

1:00 

30 

2:00 

59% 

28i/o 

1:591/2 

5814 

271/2 

1:58% 

1:0014 

301/2 

1:59% 

59 

29 

1:59% 

66  THE    TWO-MINUTE    TROTTERS 

the  writer  is  one  who  firmly  believes  that  there  was  a  time 
in  his  career  when  he  could  easily  have  set  the  world's  race 
record  at  two  minutes  or  better  had  he  found  at  any  time 
a  foeman  worthy  of  his  speed.  Retired  to  the  stud  the  year 
following  the  trotting  of  his  record  mile,  he  lived  but  two 
years  yet  in  that  time  sired  many  colts  of  great  worth  and 
in  fact  it  is  doubtful  if  any  other  sire  begot  as  great  a 
percentage  of  fast  trotters  as  did  he.  He  shone  brilliantly 
while  he  lived  and  his  early  death  was  more  than  a  loss  to 
the  breeding  interests. 

His  fast  miles,  most  of  them  championship  performances 
of  one  kind  or  another  are  as  follows: 

North  Randall,  0.,  August  22,  1916 SOVo 

North  Randall,  0.,  August  25,  1916.. 30 

Syracuse,  N.  Y.,  September  12,  1916 30 

Lexington,  Ky.,  October  4,  1916 30% 

Lexington,  Ky.,  October  7,  1916 29% 

Atlanta,  Ga.,  October  20,  1916 30% 

Lexington,  Ky.,  October  26,  1916 29% 

Lee  Axworthy  was  a  bay  horse  that  stood  not  more  than 
15  hands  but  was  stoutly  made  and  in  every  respect  he  was 
as  handsome  as  he  was  speedy  and  game.  More  than  that 
cannot  be  said  of  any  good  horse. 

His  breeding  blended  the  blood  of  the  two  great  sires, 
Guy  Axworthy  and  Bingen,  the  first  being  his  sire  the  second 
the  sire  of  his  dam  and  in  him  was  also  blended  the  blood 
of  Young  Jim,  Red  Wilkes,  Guy  Wilkes,  Mambrino  Patchen 
and  that  of  other  "old  time"  sires.  And,  until  the  year  1921 
brought  out  the  two-minute  trotters  Peter  Manning  and  Arion 
Guy  it  must  be  said  that  he  was  the  best  bred  fast  trotter 
that  had  yet  appeared. 

At  this  place  is  appears  to  be  fitting  that  there  be  added 
to  the  story  of  Lee  Axworthy  something  about  him  that 
comes  from  Mr.  Ed  Wise,  Superintendent  of  the  North  Ran- 
dall track,  who  was  with  the  Pastime  Stable  when  Mr. 
Andrews  was  developing  the  future  champion  trotting  stal- 
lion and  was  second  trainer  to  Mr.  Ben  White  the  year  he 
drove  the  horse  to  his  championship  records.  There  is  no 
keener  observer  than  "Eddie"  Wise  and  what  he  has  related 


LEE    AXWORTHY  67 

for  publication  in  this  volume  is  well  worth  while.  He 
says: 

"Mr.  Andrews  shod  the  colt  in  the  fall  of  1913  with 
8^  ounce  plain  front  shoes  which  were  not  changed  for 
some  time  except  to  square  them  at  the  toes.  He  carried 
3  ounce  toe  weights  but  not  when  he  took  his  record,  nor  at 
all  that  year — 1916.  Behind  he  wore  3%  to  4  ounce  swedge 
shoes  always  with  the  toes  squared.  By  the  time  he  took 
his  best  record  the  weight  of  his  front  shoes  had  been  re- 
duced to  six  ounces  each. 

'"Most  of  the  time  he  wore  hinged  quarter  boots  and  hind 
shin  boots  with  speedy-cut  attachment.  He  would  wear 
a  pair  of  scalpers  out  in  about  two  weeks  and  always  wore 
them  for  jogging  but  not  when  asked  to  step. 

"At  first  he  was  rigged  with  a  pole  but  he  found  a  way 
to  break  it,  for  he  did  not  like  the  way  it  held  him  when  it 
was  rigged  with  the  usual  halter  and  ring.  Finally,  one  day, 
he  broke  the  halter  and  Mr.  Andrews  just  put  the  end  of  it 
through  the  bridle  and  let  it  go  at  that.  So  did  the  colt  and 
never  offered  to  fight  it  the  least  bit  when  it  was  put  on  him 
that  way. 

"1  have  seen  him,  fighting  that  head  pole  before  it  was 
changed  until  he  would  fall  into  the  ditch  that  ran  alongside 
the  track.  Mr.  Andrews  would  just  dismount,  push  him 
back  on  the  track,  remount  and  go  merrily  on  his  way. 
Shortly  after  one  of  those  incidents  the  pole  was  changed 
and  that  ended  the  trouble  from  that  direction.  I  suppose 
he  was  the  only  horse  whose  head  pole  was  put  on  without 
the  halter  and  ring. 

"The  day  he  first  showed  Mr.  Andrews  any  trot  was,  as 
1  remember,  late  in  April,  1914.  He  hit  a  trot  on  the  upper 
turn  that  was  real  trot.  I  met  him  just  as  he  came  into 
the  stretch  and  he  shouted  to  me:  'I've  got  him.'  He  stepped 
tlie  last  eighth  of  that  mile  in  16  seconds  and  Mr.  Andrews 
turned  him  right  around,  without  leaving  the  track  and 
worked  him  a  mile  in  2:27^. 

"The  colt  had  been  priced  to  a  resident  of  Thomasville 
at  $150  subject  to  the  consent  of  his  trainer  but  the  deal 
was.  never  made,  of  course,  yet  there  were  many  times  when 


68  THE    TWO-MINUTE    TROTTERS 

it  looked  like  it  would  go  through.  Nothing  but  the  persis- 
tence and  patience  of  Mr.  Andrews  prevented.  During  the 
time  when  Lee  did  not  show  anything,  that  we  ever  knew 
of,  Danny  O'Connell  took  care  of  him  and  we  worked  to- 
gether, helping  one  another,  so  I  saw  much  of  the  colt  and 
when  he  was  working  with  him  I  helped.  Every  day  I 
would  say  to  him:  'Danny,  this  horse  will  trot  some  day, 
I  know  he  will  or  Mr.  Andrews  wouldn't  fool  with  him.' 
And  always  Danny  would  point  at  the  neck  of  the  colt,  just 
back  of  his  ears  and  retort:  'Eddie,  he's  too  thick  right 
there.' 

"He  was  a  regular  country  cut-up  and  knew  more  things 
to  do  than  most  small  boys.  He  wore  a  blanket  all  that 
winter.  One  day  we  clipped  him  and  put  him  away  at  night 
blanketed.  The  next  morning  Danny  found  that  blanket 
torn  into  as  small  bits  as  he  could  make  them.  Then  for  a 
long  time  he  was  allowed  to  get  along  without  a  blanket 
or  sheet.  After  one  of  his  early  race  performances  Mr. 
Haskell  said  he  would  stand  the  expense  of  sheets  for  the 
coJt  and  purchased  a  half-dozen  for  him.  The  colt  bided 
his  time.  It  is  probably  true  that  no  other  horse  ever  was 
watched  more  closely  than  Danny  watched  Lee  Axworthy. 
He  was  so  seldom  away  from  the  stall  that  Lee  had  to  seize 
the  slightest  opportunity  to  get  into  mischief.  One  day  he 
was  standing  half  asleep  and  Danny  went  a  few  feet  away 
to  a  water  tap  for  a  drink.  As  he  lifted  the  cup  to  his  lips 
he  heard  something  go  "rip"  and  hurried  back  to  the  stall 
to  find  Lee  standing  just  as  he  had  left  him,  still  half  asleep, 
apparently  but  the  sheet  was  ripped  from  end  to  end  and 
the  piece  he  had  torn  out  of  it  was  lying  at  his  front  feet. 

"Danny  was  a  great  boy  to  keep  the  stall  looking  neat, 
the  bedding  in  order  and  everything  ship  shape.  On  the 
campaign  there  always  were  visitors  and  besides  Danny  be- 
lieved in  order  and  decency.  But  no  sooner  would  he  turn 
his  back  than  Lee  would  begin  to  root  up  his  bedding  until 
his  stall  looked  as  if  the  pigs  had  been  rooting  in  it.  Then 
he  would  wind  up,  if  left  alone  long  enough,  ])y  rooting  all 
the  bedding  into  the  hall  in  front  of  his  quarters.  To  stop 
that  lime  was  sprinkled  over  the  floor  before  the  bedding 


LEE    AXWORTHY  69 

was  put  down  and  that  stopped  him.  Not  liking  the  lime 
the  next  boy  that  had  him,  Nick  Karper,  used  talcum  powder 
and  the  horse  never  learned  the  difference.  To  keep  him 
from  tearing  his  blanket  in  the  stall  a  stick  was  put  on  him 
and  occasionally  he  would  lie  down  with  the  stick  under- 
neath him,  and  on  the  instant  he  would  flop  over  as  easily 
as  a  boy. 

"At  night  if  he  happened  to  drink  all  the  water  out  of 
his  pail  and  would  want  another  drink  he  would  rattle  the 
pail  against  the  wall  until  sleep  was  out  of  the  question  and 
the  only  thing  to  do  was  to  get  up  and  wait  on  him. 

"In  all  his  racing  career  he  missed  one  feed.  That  was 
his  dinner  the  day  l)efore  he  was  to  start  against  the  stallion 
record  at  North  Randall,  and  he  appeared  to  be  a  very  sick 
horse.  He  just  refused  to  eat  but  we  worked  with  him  that 
afternoon,  kept  him  in  a  temporary  paddock  outside  the 
barn  and  by  evening  he  was  ready  to  eat  all  he  could  get 
at.  His  ration  consisted  of  two  quarts  of  crushed  oats  three 
times  a  day,  making  six  quarts  in  all,  with  a  bran  mash 
added  to  the  two  quarts  fed  at  night.  But  he  had  all  the 
hay  he  could  eat  and  he  could  put  nearly  as  much  away  as 
an  elephant.  Hay  was  to  him  like  candy  to  a  kid,  he  was 
ready  for  it  all  the  time  and  he  never  seemed  to  really  get 
enough. 

"The  day  he  got  his  record  of  1:581  4  he  had  hay  just 
like  he  wanted  it,  which  was  all  the  time.  Nick  booted  and 
harnessed  him  as  he  munched  his  hay  and  when  Mr.  White 
took  him  out  his  sides  bulged  like  those  of  a  brood  mare. 
But  Nick  knew  and  as  he  patted  him  on  the  belly  after  he 
was  harnessed  and  his  driver  had  mounted  the  sulky  to  begin 
to  warm  him  up  Nick  said:  'He's  in  great  shape  Mr.  White, 
you'll  lower  all  the  records  today.'     And  he  did. 

"He  must  have  known  how  to  feed  himself  for  when  we 
left  Thomasville  in  the  Spring  of  1916  he  weighed  exactly 
900  pounds.  When  we  got  back  to  Lexington  in  the  late 
fall,  shipping  from  Atlanta  and  starting  against  time  the 
day  after  we  reached  Lexington,  going  the  mile  in  1:59^, 
he  weighed  880  pounds." 


Your's  is  the  day!     We  greet  you 
'Tis  ours  to  stand  aside. 

— Marion  N.  Gaskill. 


PETER   MANNING 

Champion  Trotter  of  the  World 
Record  1:57% 

HEN,  on  October  6th,  1921,  Peter  Manning  set  the 
world's  record  for  trotters  at  ]  :57%,  he  displaced 
the  1:58  of  Uhlan  which  stood  for  nine  years  and  it 
is  somewhat  of  a  coincidence  that  when  Uhlan,  in  1912,  set 
the  world's  record  at  1:58,  he  displaced  the  1:58^4  of  Lou 
Dillon  who  was  the  first  two-minute  trotter  and  whose  record 
had  been  the  best  for  nine  years  and  that  is  what  caused 
Mr.  Charles  Tanner,  who  trained  and  drove  Uhlan,  to  declare 
that  the  extremely  fast  trotters  do  not  appear  often  enough 
and  that  "nine  years  is  too  long  to  wait  for  a  champion". 
Whether  we  will  have  to  wait  nine  years  for  a  successor  to 
Peter  Manning  depends,  as  it  happens,  on  Tommy  Murphy, 
trainer  and  driver  of  the  present  champion,  and  his  other 
two-minute  trotter,  Arion  Guy  1 :59l/>.  They  will  have  their 
opportunity.  After  racing  Peter  Manning  successfully  in 
1920,  Mr.  Murphy  drove  him  to  the  world's  record  in  1921, 
as  stated,  and  while  he  may  make  the  attempt  to  further 
lower  that  record  with  him  it  is  to  Arion  Guy,  the  younger 
trotter,  that  many  horsemen  look  to  lower  the  record.  This 
is  no  particular  place  for  prophecy  but  it  may  be  that  both 
of  the  Murphy  horses  will  lower  the  record  that  stood  at  the 
close  of  1921.  Tommy  is  in  the  habit  of  doing  unexpected 
things. 

Before  proceeding  with  the  story  of  Peter  Manning  it 
is  well  to  glance  at  the  growth  of  the  list  of  two-minute 
trotters.  Few  people  realize  that  there  is  something  out  of 
the  ordinaiy  in  the  making  of  a  trotter  that  can  show  the 


74  THE    TWO-MINUTE    TROTTERS 

public  a  two-minute,  or  better,  mile.  And  yet  in  the  nine- 
teen years  included  in  the  period  1903-1921,  but  six  trotters 
have  shown  that  capacity  in  public  trials  and  two  of  them 
made  their  records  as  long  ago  as  1903,  for  it  was  in  that 
year  that  Lou  Dillon  trotted  the  first  mile  in  two-minutes  and 
set  the  world's  record  at  1 :58l/>  and  Major  Delmar  set  the 
record  for  trotting  geldings  at  1:59%.  Seven  years  elapsed 
before  another  two-minute  trotter  appeared  and  he  only 
succeeded  in  lowering  the  record  of  Major  Delmar  and  lacked 
a  quarter  of  a  second  of  equaling  the  mark  of  Lou  Dillon. 
As  already  stated  nine  years  went  by  after  the  Lou  Dillon 
championship  mile  before  Uhlan  became  fastest  of  trotters, 
for  it  was  in  1912  that  he  trotted  in  1:58. 

Six  years  after  Uhlan  entered  the  two-minute  list  Lee 
Axworthy  trotted  to  a  record  of  1:58^/4,  the  first  stallion  to 
enroll  his  name  among  the  very  elect  of  the  trotting  turf, 
the  best  record  for  a  stallion  up  to  that  time  having  been  2:01. 
That  increased  the  list  of  two-minute  trotters  to  a  total  of  but 
four  and  yet  thirteen  years  had  gone  by  since  the  day  of  Lou 
Dillon  and  Major  Delmar. 

Lee  Axworthy's  year  was  1916  and  while  three  other 
trotters  appeared  about  that  time  that  appeared  to  have 
chances  to  trot  in  two-minutes  or  faster,  none  of  them  did  it, 
the  nearest  approach  being  the  2:01  of  Lu  Princton.  Five 
years  went  by  and  then  the  history  of  1903  was  repeated 
and  the  names  of  two  more  trotters  were  enrolled,  Peter 
Manning  1  :57'j4,  the  new  champion  and  a  gelding  and  Arion 
Guy  1:59^,  a  four-year-old  and  a  stallion  and  also  the  first 
of  his  age  to  get  into  the  extra-select  list.  They  brought  the 
total  up  to  six. 

As  further  showing  the  importance  of  a  two-minute  trot- 
ting record  and  the  extremely  difficult  task  of  lowering  the 
trotting  record,  it  should  he  remembered  that  the  first  two- 
minute  trotter  took  a  record  of  1:58^  and  that  the  present 
world's  record  is  but  three-quarters  of  a  second  faster,  so 
that  the  task  of  developing  and  training  a  trotter  to  where 
the  ability  to  cut  off  a  quarter  of  a  second  is  shown  is  by  no 
means  an  easy  one.  Hence  the  men  who  have  brought  out 
the  two-minute  trotters  have  accomplished  great  things  and 


PETER    MANNING  75 

those  who  have  succeeded  in  getting  their  pupils  up  to  where 
they  could  lower  the  record,  even  through  it  be  by  but  the 
smallest  fraction  of  a  second  (as  timing  prevails  on  the  trot- 
ting tracks)  have  done  something  away  beyond  the  usual. 
Six  two-minute  trotters  in  nineteen  years  does  not  look  like 
a  great  number.  But  the  trotting  breed  is  yet  young  and 
two-minute  trotters  are  still  two-minute  trotters.  Nor  is  ic 
probable  that  they  will  ever  be  produced  in  great  numbers. 
One  every  three  years  is  not  many.  But  it  is  possible  that 
the  average  may  change.  There  are  those  who  believe  that 
in  the  not  distant  future  trotters  will  race  in  two  minutes,  be- 
cause there  will  be  more  trotters  bred  with  that  capacity.  Be 
that  as  it  may,  the  situation  at  the  beginning  of  the  year  1922 
is  that  in  nineteen  years  but  six  two-minute  trotters  have  ap- 
peared, and  that  while  two  came  out  in  1921,  the  same  thing 
occurred  in  1903. 

With  this  brief  outline  of  the  history  of  the  two-minute 
trotter  we  will  now  go  on  to  present  the  story  of  the  present 
champion,  Peter  Manning,  1:57'^,  bay  gelding  by  Azoff- 
Glendora  G.  by  Emmett  Grattan. 

Bred  in  Lake  County,  Illinois,  by  W.  M.  Wright,  Peter 
Manning  was  developed  by  Harry  Putnam,  of  which  later, 
and  after  that  trainer  gave  him  a  time  record  of  2:06^/2,  as  a 
three-year-old,  he  was  bought  by  Thomas  W.  Murphy,  acting 
for  Mr.  Irvin  W.  Gleason  of  Williamsport,  Pa.,  for  $21,000. 
Mr.  Murphy  raced  him  through  the  Grand  Circuit  in  1920, 
when  the  colt  was  four  years  of  age,  and  he  was  returned  the 
winner  of  every  race  but  one  during  that  season  and  retired 
for  the  year  with  the  world's  record  for  trotting  geldings  in  a 
race,  which  was  2:0214:- 

During  that  year  nothing  was  done  with  him  with  any 
other  object  in  view  than  to  lit  him  for  his  races  and  keep  him 
in  condition  to  win  them.  His  best  record  was  made  in  the 
race  for  the  Transylvania  purse  at  Lexington,  and  it  came 
about  in  the  fortunes  of  war  that  Mr.  Murphy  was  injured 
and  was  unable  to  do  the  driving,  that  task  falling  to  Mr. 
Harry  Stokes. 

With  a  winning  race  record  of  2:02^  the  prospective 
champion  was  without  racing  engagements  for  the  season  of 


^6  THE    TWO-MINUTE    TROTTERS 

1921  unless  something  unforseen  should  occur  to  bring 
enough  other  trotters  into  his  class  to  enable  the  Grand  Cir- 
cuit tracks  to  make  offerings  that  would  again  introduce  the 
gelding  to  actual  contests.  In  accordance  with  that  situation 
and  because  his  trainer  believed  he  had  ability  to  lower  the 
world's  record  for  trotters,  his  preparation  began  for  that  sort 
of  effort  shortly  after  the  opening  of  the  Grand  Circuit  rac- 
ing season.  As  there  were  to  be  no  particular  early  efforts, 
a  mile  in  about  2:11  was  the  best  Peter  was  asked  to  step  be- 
fore the  stable  left  Poughkeepsie  for  North  Randall,  about 
the  middle  of  June.  As  the  season  advanced  there  was  resort 
to  fast  quarters  at  both  ends  of  the  miles  and  these  were  usu- 
ally, when  the  proper  time  came,  in  29  to  29^/4  seconds.  In 
the  main  the  system  followed  was  the  "mile  on  mile",  drop- 
ping at  the  proper  time  the  necessary  few  seconds  until  the 
time  to  ask  for  great  speed  was  reached,  and  then  came  the 
fast  quarters.  As  the  result  of  this  work  Peter  Manning 
learned  to  step  a  quarter  in  27-)4  seconds,  and  a  half  in  56. 

In  the  course  of  a  recent  conversation  with  the  writer  on 
the  subject  of  the  champion's  chances  for  a  new  record  Mr. 
Murphy  made  this  brief  but  significant  observation:  "I  do 
not  see  why  he  should  not  do  it;  he  trotted  a  half  in  56  sec- 
onds." Twice  56  is  112,  that  is  1:52  for  the  mile,  and  while 
no  harness  horse  has  ever  done  that,  and  perhaps  no  one  ex- 
pects Peter  Manning  to  do  it,  there  is  ample  reason  for  the 
belief  that  the  champion's  trainer  has  a  mile  in  1:56  in  mind, 
and  that  will  require  but  58  seconds  for  each  half,  and  the 
fast  trotters  have  done  so  many  things  that  it  is  idle  to  sit  back 
and  say  "Peter  Manning  cannot  do  that".  And  it  should  be 
further  remembered  that  the  confidence  of  a  competent 
trainer  has  much  to  do  with  what  a  great  horse  accomplishes. 
And  no  trainer  ever  had  more  confidence  in  a  trotter  than 
Tommy  Murphy  has  in  Peter  Manning,  despite  the  fact  that 
it  is  extremely  difficult  to  get  him  to  make  any  predictions 
concerning  his  future  other  than  the  one  which  has  just  been 
quoted. 

Carrying  his  good  trotter  along  and  working  him  all  that 
he  seemed  to  require  in  order  to  make  speed  and  carry  his 
clip.  Murphy  decided  at  Readville  during  the  Grand  Circuit 


PETER    MANNING  "]"] 

meeting  in  August,  that  the  time  had  arrived  to  make  another 
addition  to  the  list  of  two-minute  trotters,  which  had  been 
growing  slowly,  and  to  which  there  had  been  no  additions 
since  1916,  Lee  Axworthy's  year.  The  gelding  was  started 
over  the  original  two-minute  track  on  the  thirtieth  day  of 
August,  1921,  and  performed  strictly  up  to  expectations, 
trotting  the  mile  in  exactly  two  minutes,  and  making  the  fifth 
trotter  to  accomplish  that  feat.  It  has  been  said  that  this  per- 
formance was  gratifying  to  Murphy  for  many  reasons,  and 
that  his  goal  had  been  to  drive  a  trotter  into  the  tw^o-minute 
list.  Perhaps  the  proper  way  to  put  it  would  be  to  say  that 
he  was  quite  anxious  to  perform  that  feat,  one  so  few  men 
had  accomplished.  But  it  was  only  a  step  toward  the  real 
goal,  which  was  to  drive  Peter  Manning  to  the  world's  record. 
Two  weeks  later,  when  he  trotted  his  mile  in  1 :58  over  the 
New  York  State  Fair  track  at  Syracuse,  the  feat  was  some- 
thing to  talk  about,  for  it  tied  the  world's  record  which  had 
been  set  by  Uhlan,  at  Lexington,  in  1912.  But  that,  as  well, 
was  but  a  step  toward  the  Murphy  goal.  He  had  the  sole 
ownership  of  the  champion  record  in  view,  and  he  kept  right 
on.  He  drove  Peter  Manning  two  fine  miles  at  Columbus, 
giving  that  fast  track  its  first  trotting  mark  in  two  minutes  or 
better,  and  that  put  the  finishing  touches  on  the  gelding's 
preparation  for  the  effort,  to  be  made  at  Lexington,  to  secure 
the  world's  record. 

The  feat  was  accomplished  and  the  mile  was  trotted  in 
1:57%^,  and  the  diffidence  of  the  human  factor  in  the  per- 
formance is  described  by  one  of  his  friends  in  these  words: 

"While  the  thousands  welcomed  the  performance  with 
fast  beating  hearts,  hand-clapping  and  shouts  of  congratula- 
tions, the  hero  of  the  occasion  was  conspicuously  absent,  hav- 
ing failed  to  respond  to  the  calls  from  the  audience  which  de- 
sired to  accord  him  its  homage.  He  had  driven  Peter  Man- 
ning off  the  track  and,  with  acclamations  ringing  in  his  ears, 
sought  solitude." 

The  Lexington  audience  had  no  greater  disappointment 
than  most  people  have  had  in  trying  to  get  the  Poughkeepsie 
reinsman  to  talk  about  what  he  has  done.  He  will  cheerfully 
answer  many  of  the  millions  of  questions  that  are  put  to  him 


78  THE    TWO-MINUTE    TROTTERS 

every  year,  but  he  declines  to  go  into  any  extended  preach- 
ment as  to  how  he  trains  trotters.  There  is  no  doubt  that  he 
would  be  a  wise  counselor  for  any  man  who  was  having 
training  troubles,  and  that  he  would  go  far  out  of  his  way,  on 
request,  to  be  of  assistance  to  any  one.  But  talking  about 
himself  is  another  matter  entirely.  And  that  explains  why  he 
disappeared  that  great  day  at  Lexington,  and  disproves  the 
belief  that  he  had  gone  away  to  hold  to  his  overflowing  heart, 
lest  it  burst  under  the  new  and  valued  honors  that  came  to 
him.  It  may  be  possible  that  he  did  not  hold  the  new  record 
as  highly  as  did  some  of  his  friends.  Records  had  come  to 
be  quite  common  to  him,  for  more  than  fifty-seven  "bests" 
have  been  accredited  to  him  in  his  career. 

Getting  back  to  Peter  Manning.  He  had  been  pretty  well 
trained  and  mannered  before  he  joined  the  stable  of  Mr. 
Murphy,  but  he  did  develop  two  slight  faults  that  had  to  be 
corrected  before  he  could  go  to  the  races.  One  of  them  was 
that  peculiar  one  which  many  trotters  and  pacers  try  to  put 
over,  and  which  consisted  in  wanting  to  turn  one  way  only. 
He  was  soon  taught  that  he  must  obey  orders,  and  no  great 
difficulty  was  encountered  in  teaching  him  the  lesson.  The 
other  consisted  in  a  desire,  put  into  action,  to  rush  away  at 
speed  whenever  he  was  turned  to  score.  To  correct  that  fault 
his  trainer  used  all  the  arts  of  persuasion  and  all  the  means  at 
his  command  except  punishment — that  was  not  called  into 
action.  But  he  did  resort  to  the  rope  halter,  and  in  a  very 
short  time  Peter  had  learned  that  he  would  not  be  permitted 
to  do  the  thing  he  so  much  wanted  to  do.  And  he  took  that 
lesson  in  his  matter-of-fact  way  and  did  not  have  to  be  taught 
it  again. 

At  first  he  was  exceedingly  shy  of  strangers  and  did  not 
care  to  have  them  about  him.  They  were  not  at  all  welcome 
in  his  stall,  and  when  they  appeared  at  the  door  he  would 
make  his  way  to  the  farthest  corner  and  refuse  to  have  any- 
thing to  do  with  them.  Nor  has  he  entirely  gotten  over  that 
peculiarity,  although  he  will  visit  in  a  most  friendly  way  a 
great  deal  of  the  time.  It  is  not  at  all  unlikely  that  the  sugar 
which  has  been  carried  to  him  by  so  many  of  his  admirers 


PETER    MANNING  79 

has  had  much  to  do  with  his  changing  attitude.     As  Mike 
McDevitt  says,  "sugar  is  a  great  civilizer  for  horses." 

There  never  was  a  better  doer.  There  may  have  been 
many  just  as  good,  but  there  will  never  be  found  one  who  is 
better.  Nothing  appears  to  disturb  him.  and  he  ships  as  if  he 
had  been  a  railroader  all  his  life.  His  appetite  is  always 
keen,  but  he  is  in  no  sense  a  glutton.  Like  many  other  great 
horses  have  been,  he  is  partial  to  hay  and  wants  plenty  of  it 
all  the  time.    It  follows  that  he  gets  it. 

His  weight?  Well,  one  person's  guess  is  as  good  as  an- 
other's. He  has  not  been  on  the  scales  since  he  joined  the 
Murphy  establishment,  but  he  looks  very  much  like  a  thou- 
sand pounds  or  so,  say  fifty  for  the  "so",  and  he  holds  his 
weight  remarkably  well,  no  matter  how  strenuous  his  cam- 
paign may  be.  He  is  a  big  gelding,  measuring  15  hands  S^/g 
inches  at  the  withers,  and  while  there  are  none  of  the  so- 
called  heroic  lines  about  him,  his  conformation  is  quite 
pleasing  and  one  gentleman  who  may  be  considered,  in  fact 
is,  a  thoughtful  observer,  says  that  he  appears  to  grow  better 
looking  each  succeeding  year.  On  this  point  Mr.  Murphy  re- 
lates an  incident  which  fits  well  at  this  point  of  our  narrative. 

In  the  early  winter  when  Peter  Manning  was  a  newcomer 
to  the  Poughkeepsie  caravan,  a  party  of  gentlemen  paid  the 
place  a  visit.  i\mong  them  were  two  quite  prominent  track 
managers.  When  they  visited  the  stables  the  first  horse  shown 
them  was  Peter  Manning.  They  were  in  the  stall  with  the 
then  three-year-old,  and  Tommy  was  attending  to  some  small 
matter  not  far  away.  The  two  track  managers  looked  the 
gelding  over  very  carefully,  and  finally  one  of  them  said: 
"I  don't  see  what  Murph  saw  in  that  common-looking  thing  to 
put  all  that  money  in  him**,  then  asked  his  fellow  manager, 
"Do  you?"'  The  prompt  answer  was  "No,  I  don't;  he's  the 
commonest  thing  I  ever  saw." 

It  is  presumed  that  he  looked  better  to  them  the  next  year 
when  he  won  the  rich  stakes  their  associations  off^ered  for  trot- 
ters. But  while  Peter  is  not  what  would  be  called  a  beauty, 
he  has  a  "business"  look  which  conforms  quite  well  to  his 
business-like  way  of  doing  things,  and  there  is  an  old  saying 
that  "handsome  is  as  handsome  does" — not  particularly  ele- 


8o  THE    TWO-MINUTE    TROTTERS 

gant,  but  filling  the  bill  as  to  what  it  means.  It  might  be 
said,  however,  that  this  is  no  effort  to  create  the  impression 
that  Peter  Manning  is  homely,  for  he  is  not;  he  merely  lacks 
some  of  the  frills  that  sometimes  go  with  the  turf  stars,  and 
that  is  all  there  is  to  it. 

Peter  Manning  has  done  all  his  trotting  with  short  toes, 
shoes  as  light  as  possible  and  no  toe  weight,  and  a  limited  as- 
sortment of  boots.  When  he  took  his  record  of  2:061/2  at 
three  years  he  carried  rubber  quarter  boots,  but  those  were 
soon  discarded,  so  that  his  total  boot  equipment  when  he 
raced  and  when  he  went  his  two-minute  miles,  consisted  of 
hind  shin  boots.  Mr.  Murphy  hopes  to  some  time  be  able  to 
drive  him  a  fast  mile  with  no  boots  of  any  sort,  and  while 
he  will  not  have  to  take  many  off^,  the  spectacle  of  a  mile  in 
two  minutes  or  better,  perhaps  a  championship  mile,  by  a 
trotter  without  boots,  will  be  something  worth  seeing. 

The  front  shoes  of  the  champion  weigh  6^0  ounces  and 
are  bar  shoes  perfectly  plain.  The  length  of  his  front  toes  is 
3%  inches  and  the  angle  is  47.  The  hind  shoes  are  4^/2 
ounce,  square  toed  and  swedged  with  heel  extension  and  heel 
calks  turned  up.  For  hard  tracks  a  very  light  rim  pad  is  used 
under  the  front  shoes.  The  hind  shoes  are  fitted  with  bars 
merely  to  strengthen  them,  and  for  no  other  purpose. 

In  some  of  his  races,  the  season  Mr.  Murphy  was  injured 
and  could  not  drive,  Peter  Manning  was  rigged  with  a  head 
pole,  but  for  that  a  side  strap  was  substituted,  and  its  use  is 
accounted  for  by  the  fact  that  Peter  is  a  trotter  who  some- 
times quite  easily  gets  out  of  line  and  is  then  apt  to  brush  the 
inside  of  his  hind  ankles. 

"Marque"  has  this  interesting  thing  to  say  about  the  gait 
of  the  champion:  "Here  is  an  observation  I  will  submit  as 
an  oddity  in  respect  to  Peter  Manning's  gait;  a  feature  I  have 
discussed  with  trainers  and  upon  which  I  have  found  them  to 
agree  with  me,  and  that  is  the  fact  that  when  jogging  or  trot- 
ting along  at  medium  speed,  he  appears  to  be  gaited  just  the 
same  as  when  he  is  speeding.  In  other  words,  unlike  practi- 
cally all  other  fast  trotters,  he  does  not  change  his  method  of 
gait  when  moving  from  slow  into  high  speed — just  moves  his 
legs  faster,  that's  all.     He  has  not  the  same  sort  of  front 


PETER    MANNING 


8l 


Stroke  that  is  characteristic  of  our  modern  trotters.  He 
strides  fairly  high  in  front,  but  instead  of  putting  his  feet 
down  with  a  sharp  or  forceful  impact,  seems  to  lightly  let 
them  fall  of  their  own  volition,  without  the  slightest  apparent 
effort." 

And  on  this  same  subject  his  trainer  says:  "He  lands 
very  flat  with  his  front  feet,  but  when  riding  behind  him  I 
have  observed  that  just  before  he  strikes  the  track  his  feet 
are  given  a  slight  outward  flip,  the  toes  turning  towards  the 
outside  with  a  quick  movement.  I  believe  that  this  keeps 
him  from  hitting  the  ground  with  the  hard  impact  that  flat- 
footed  striders  usually  do." 

A  brief  but  graphic  description  of  Peter  Manning's  rec- 
ord mile  at  Lexington  October  6th,  1921,  appeared  in  the 
American  Sportsman,  and  is  as  follows:  "There  was  not  one 
in  all  the  crowd  that  was  heard  to  express  any  hope  that  he 
could  trot  in  time  to  make  necessary  the  removal  of  the  fig- 
ures 1:58  that  had  adorned  the  timing  stand  since  1912,  the 
year  Uhlan  made  that  record.  Peter  Manning  was  accom- 
panied by  the  runners  driven  by  John  Benyon  and  Hunter 
Moody,  and  trotted  the  most  wonderful  mile  yet  achieved  by 
any  horse.  When  he  reached  the  quarter  and  the  time  showed 
thirty  seconds,  and  then  the  half  in  fifty-nine  seconds,  it  was 
generally  thought  that  Murphy  had  made  a  mistake  in  going 
too  slow.  Then  when  the  three-quarters  showed  only  1 :29  the 
task  looked  hopeless.  But  he  came  through  the  stretch  like  a 
runner,  and  at  the  seven-eigths  was  joined  by  a  third 
prompter.  Murphy  was  after  him  with  one  of  his  'high  line' 
drives,  and  the  horse  flashed  under  the  wire  in  1 :57'^,  a  rec- 
ord never  touched  by  any  other  trotter,  and  a  feat  worthy  of 
the  greatest  commendation." 

The  world's  records  held  by  Peter  Manning  are  five  in 
number,  and  are  as  follows:  Fastest  trotter,  1:57'%;  fastest 
gelding,  1:57'^;  fastest  four-year-old  gelding,  2:02l^;  fast- 
est five-year-old,  1:57'"^;  fastest  three-heat  race,  2:03, 
2:023/4,  2:021/0.  Until  the  season  of  1921  he  held  the  record 
for  the  fastest  race  heat  by  a  gelding,  2:02^4'  loshig  it  when 
Grey  worthy  trotted  in  2:0214 


82  THE    TWO-MINUTE    TROTTERS 

The  champion's  record  miles,  trotted  in  1921,  are  as  fol- 
lows: 

North  Randall— To  beat  2:02i4 :30%  1:01V2  1:31  2:O0i/4 

Readville— To    beat    2:00^4 :30i4       :59%  1:291/2  2:00 

Syracuse— To    beat    2:00     :30i4        :59%  1:28%  1:58 

Columbus— To  beat  2:01,  track  record :30  :59  1:29  l:59i^ 

Lexington— To  beat  1:58,  world's  record :30  :59y2  1:29  1:57% 

In  one  respect  Tommy  Murphy  and  John  J.  McGraw, 
manager  of  the  New  York  National  League  team,  are  alike, 
and  that  is  their  purchase  of  developed  material.  But  do  not 
think  for  a  minute  that  either  of  them  depends  entirely  on 
that  method  of  procedure.  Glance  over  the  long  list  of  play- 
ers that  have  performed  for  McGraw  and  note  that  many  of 
his  very  best  were  developed  on  his  team  and  were  not  pur- 
chased. Then  take  a  look  at  the  long  list  of  great  trotters  and 
pacers  that  Murphy  has  exhibited,  and  note  the  large  number 
of  them  that  he  developed.  There  is  nothing  in  anything  that 
Murphy  has  said  to  indicate  that  he  cares  a  "rap"  what  is  said 
about  his  methods,  but  once  in  a  great  while  he  lets  go  of  a 
remark  along  this  line:  "Nobody  appeared  to  want  Peter 
Manning  at  the  price  but  me,  when  I  bought  him.  A  lot  of 
other  people  saw  him  and  knew  he  was  for  sale.  He  looked 
like  he  was  worth  having,  and  I  paid  $21,000  for  him.  I 
guess  anybody  else  could  have  bought  him."  And  again,  in 
talking  about  the  same  subject,  he  said:  "If  they  are  for  sale 
and  I  like  them,  I  buy  them  if  I  have  the  price.  Arion  Guy 
was  for  sale  and  most  people  knew  it,  for  no  secret  was  made 
of  it.  But  he  was  still  for  sale  when  I  got  him;  I  drove  him 
a  mile  in  2:23  and  bought  him.  He  was'nt  kept  for  me,  and 
it  was  through  no  strategy  of  mine  or  my  friends  that  I  bought 
a  Futurity  winner  and  a  two-minute  trotter."  And  speaking 
of  making  instead  of  buying,  but  one  example  of  recent  times 
need  be  cited  to  show  that  Murphy  does  not  have  to  require 
that  they  be  handed  to  him  ready  made,  and  that  one  is  Rose 
Scott,  winner  of  the  Kentucky  Futurity  at  two  and  three,  with 
a  record  of  2:03l/v).  "All  I  ask  is  a  good  horse  and  that  he 
do  well  for  me.  I  buy  all  for  a  purpose,  and  they  do  not  all 
become  champions  either,  nor  for  that  matter,  good  race  win- 
ners. 

And  it  can  further  be  said    to    the    great    credit    of    the 


PETER    MANNING  83 

Pouglikeepsie  reinsman,  that  he  always  wants  every  man  who 
is  entitled  to  it  to  have  his  share  of  the  honor  that  comes 
through  the  performances  of  a  great  horse.  For  instance,  in 
speaking  of  Directum  I  he  remarked:  "A  lot  of  men  have 
made  good  horses;  there  is  Johnny  Ryan,  who  brought  out 
Directum  I  and  won  many  a  good  race  with  him,  and  gave 
him  a  fast  record ;  and  Ray  Snedeker  had  him  and  drove  him 
to  a  world's  record."  And  that  spirit  actuates  Tommy  Mur- 
phy all  the  while  and  is  an  indication  of  that  innate  modesty 
which,  while  it  does  not  curb  his  ambition  to  do  great  things, 
does  prevent  him  from  assuming  the  attitude  of  taking  honor 
to  which  he  does  not  feel  himself  entitled. 

That  is  not  much  about  Peter  Manning,  but  it  has  to  do 
with  the  circumstance  under  which  he  passed  to  the  manage- 
ment of  Murphy.  Also  this  might  be  the  proper  place  to  re- 
cord the  observation  that  if  there  is  any  man  who  does  not 
heartily  praise  every  trainer  who  does  the  very  best  he  can  do 
and  tries  his  best  all  the  time  he  may  be  a  sportsman  of  a 
kind,  but  not  of  the  two-minute  kind. 

The  fall  Peter  Manning  was  two  years  old  Harry  Putnam 
ground  broke  him,  but  did  not  do  anything  with  him  that 
winter.  A  combination  of  circumstances  prevented  any  fur- 
ther education  for  the  colt  until  the  following  April  (1919), 
at  which  time  Harrys  re-opened  his  training  stable  at  the  half- 
mile  track  of  the  Libertyville,  111.,  fair.  The  colt  took  his 
lessons  in  breaking  all  right,  and  made  speed  when  his  educa- 
tion had  progressed  to  where  it  was  asked  for.  It  was  early 
in  the  schooling  that  Harry  discovered  that  Peter  could  not 
get  on  with  long  toes  nor  carry  very  much  weight.  He  at  once 
began  reducing  both  until  he  had  the  toes  as  short  as  it  was 
possible  to  get  them,  and  had  reduced  the  weight  of  the  front 
shoes  to  six  ounces  each. 

That  accomplished,  Peter  made  speed  as  rapidly  as  his 
tutor  allowed  him  to  make  it,  and  that  was  enough  to  indicate 
that  he  was  destined  to  be  quite  a  trotter  with  any  kind  of 
good  fortune.  In  the  early  fall  he  was  started  at  the  Liberty- 
ville fair,  and  won  in  2:171/4.  Just  a  little  later  he  trotted 
the  mile  track  at  the  Wisconsin  State  Fair  in  2:10,  and  began 
to  attract  the  attention  of  the  public.      In  a  slow  mile  he 


84  THE    TWO-MINUTE    TROTTERS 

trotted  the  final  quarter  in  thirty  seconds.  Then  he  was  started 
at  Lexington  for  a  record,  and  trotted  in  2:06^,  equalling 
the  then  world's  record  for  three-year-old  geldings  held  by 
Easton.  Peter  trotted  the  last  half  of  his  mile  in  1 :00l^,  and 
the  last  quarter  in  29^4  seconds.  The  performance  created 
almost  as  much  commotion  as  a  stirring  finish,  and  the  sale 
of  the  youngster  shortly  after  for  $21,000  to  Tommy  Murphy 
for  Mr.  Gleason  was  announced.  The  early  career  of  the 
champion  reflects  great  credit  upon  a  young  trainer  who  has 
made  his  way  in  the  world  through  sheer  force  of  merit  and 
honest  methods. 

So  far  as  general  principles  are  concerned  there  has  been 
no  great  change  in  the  shoeing  and  rigging  of  Peter  Manning 
since  he  passed  from  the  charge  of  Harry  Putnam.  He  goes 
somewhat  different  in  a  way,  and  yet  there  remains  the  same 
peculiarity  of  gait  that  was  in  evidence  when  he  took  his  colt 
record.  The  change  in  his  style  of  going  has  come  with  the 
increase  in  his  speed  capacity;  just  such  a  change  as  might 
be  noted  in  any  trotter  that  passed  from  the  2:06  capacity 
to  that  of  a  champion  trotter. 

To  tell  of  Peter  Manning  and  not  mention  John  Sum- 
mers, the  highly  capable  man  who  cares  for  him,  would  be 
to  omit  something  of  importance.  John  is  the  ideal  care- 
taker in  every  respect  and  he  finds  Peter  a  willing  and 
cheerful  charge  because  he  knows  just  what  to  do  with  him 
and  when  and  how  to  do  it.  The  result  is  that  the  champion 
is  always  as  fit  as  a  fiddle.  Perhaps  John's  plan  is  to  treat 
Peter  just  as  he  would  any  other  good  horse  and  let  it  go  at 
that.  At  all  events  Peter  and  John  were  ready  when  time 
came  for  the  supreme  test  and  what  was  done  is  history. 

Peter  is  distinctively  a  product  of  Lake  County,  111.,  and 
is  another  bit  of  evidence  of  the  neighborliness  of  the  people 
there.  Mr.  Wright's  farm  in  Lake  County  lay  between 
Grattan  Farm  and  the  John  R.  Thompson  Farm,  home  of 
Azoff".  From  Grattan  Farm,  Mr.  Wright  bought  Glendora 
G.  and  at  Thompson  F/arm  he  bred  her  to  Azoff",  and  her 
colt  he  sent  to  Harry  Putnam,  a  resident  of  Lake  County, 
for  development.  The  result  was  Peter  Manning  2:06^, 
and  Tommy  Murphy  did  the  rest. 


ON 


O 
Z 

o 
< 


Oh,  talk  not  to  mc  of  a  name  great  in  story. 
The  days  of  our  youth  are  the  days  of  our  glory. 

— Lord  Byron. 


ARION    GUY 

Champion  Four-Year-Old  Trotter 
Record  1:591/2 

RION  GUY  1:591/4  is  the  youngest  trotter  that  has 
ever  entered  the  two-minute  list,  and  that  is  notable 
for  the  other  reason  that  but  one  pacer  of  that  age 
has  enrolled  his  name  in  that  small  assembly — William, 
who  at  four  took  a  record  of  exactly  two  minutes.  But  it 
can  be  said  for  Arion  Guy  that  he  was  in  all  probability  a 
two-minute  trotter  at  the  age  of  three  years.  There  is,  to  be 
sure,  room  for  argument  that  he  was  not  capable  of  any  such 
mile  speed  before  he  reached  the  age  of  four,  and  if  the 
argument  were  held  it  could  not  be  settled,  for  there  is  no 
known  means  of  carrying  the  four-year-old  trotting  champion 
back  to  the  earlier  age.  But  he  showed  in  his  race  in  the  Ken- 
tucky Futurity  that  he  possessed  the  necessary  speed,  and  as 
he  had  the  strength  and  was,  as  he  now  is,  absolutely  sound, 
there  appears  to  be  ample  foundation  for  the  belief  that  had 
he  been  conditioned  through  the  year  for  one  fast  mile  in  the 
fall  he  would  have  trotted  that  mile  in  or  below  two  minutes. 
Glance  at  the  fractional  time  of  his  miles  and  note  the 
flight  of  speed  he  exhibited  in  every  one  of  them.  He 
trotted  the  final  quarter  of  the  first  mile  in  291/0  seconds, 
and  the  mile  was  trotted  in  2:04''^4-  I^  the  second  heat  the 
final  quarter  was  negotiated  in  thirty  seconds,  though  the 
mile  was  a  slow  one,  raced  at  2:10  or  slower  speed,  part 
of  the  way.  The  third  quarter  of  the  third  and  last  mile  was 
trotted  in  29^0  seconds  and  the  entire  mile  in  2:04'*^.  A 
trotter  to  go  a  mile  in  two  minutes  must  have  better  than 
two-minute  speed  for  part  of  the  way.     To  put  it  in  other 


88  THE    TWO-MINUTE    TROTTERS 

words,  the  trotter  whose  brush  limit  is  a  quarter  in  thirty 
seconds  would  hardly  be  expected  to  trot  a  full  mile  at  that 
rate  of  speed,  as  almost  any  trainer  will  tell  you,  if  he  has 
had  any  experience  with  extreme  speed.  Inasmuch  as  Arion 
Guy  was  able  to  show  two  quarters  in  his  Kentucky  Futurity 
race  each  better  than  thirty  seconds,  the  quite  natural  de- 
duction is  that  he  was  not  many,  if  any,  removes  from  a 
two-minute  trotter  that  day.  With  the  ability  to  carry  his 
best  clip,  and  grant  that  it  was  but  29^/2  seconds  for  the 
quarter,  half  the  way,  he  would  have  been  required  to  do 
no  better  than  30^  seconds  average  for  the  other  two  quar- 
ters to  trot  the  mile  in  two  minutes. 

That  he  could  have  been  brought  to  that  point  in  mile 
speed  ability  there  would  appear  to  be  no  reasonable  doubt. 
But  he  had  been  trained  with  his  rich  futurity  engagements 
in  view  and  with  no  idea  whatever  of  any  trials  for  a  record; 
yet  with  that  training  he  developed  wonderful  speed,  and 
with  his  superb  condition  equalled  had  he  been  trained  with 
the  other  object  in  view  he  could  hardly  have  failed  to  give 
the  two-minute  list  its  first  three-year-old  member. 

Thomas  W.  Murphy,  who  trained  and  raced  him  as  a 
three-year-old,  and  who  gave  him  his  best  record  at  four 
years  of  age,  says  of  him: 

"When  I  bought  him  as  a  two-year-old,  after  having 
driven  him  a  mile  in  about  2:23,  he  was  the  possessor  of 
extreme  speed."  Mr.  Harold  Childs,  who  broke  and  de- 
veloped the  colt  through  his  two-year-old  form  and  whose 
most  interesting  letter  appears  farther  along  in  this  chapter, 
testifies  that  he  "had  a  great  amount  of  natural  trotting  speed 
for  a  short  brush."  Evidence  sufficient  to  at  least  incubate 
the  belief,  especially  when  coupled  with  that  which  later 
came  about,  that  Arion  Guy  could  have  been  made  a  two- 
minute  trotter  a  year  before  he  became  one. 

Be  that  as  it  may,  the  colt  was  in  fine  fettle  all  of  1921 
and  was  successful  in  his  three  assaults  on  time,  the  last  one 
recording  a  mile  better  than  two  minutes  and  trotted  in  such 
splendid  manner,  every  foot  in  its  proper  place,  every  foot- 
fall in  true  rhythm,  that  those  who  witnessed  the  perform- 
ance were  unanimous  in  declaring  that  a  much  lower  record 


ARION    GUY  89 

in  1922  would  easily  be  secured  by  the  son  of  Guy 
Axworthy. 

In  the  course  of  a  recent  interview  which  Tommy  Murphy 
accorded  for  use  in  this  volume,  he  said: 

"Arion  Guy  has  about  the  sweetest  disposition  of  any 
horse  I  have  ever  had  in  my  charge.  There  he  stands,  as 
quiet  as  an  old  gelding,  more  quiet  in  fact  than  some  of 
them,  and  that  way  he  stands  for  hours  at  a  time,  every  day. 
He  has  no  bad  habits  of  any  kind  or  degree.  He  is  no  more 
trouble  than  the  barn  cats.  Every  visitor  to  his  stall  is  wel- 
come. He  seems  never  to  have  learned  to  nip  at  his  care- 
taker, but  he  does  show  real  affection  for  him  and,  the  matter 
of  that,  he  may  have  a  real  liking  for  all  people — some 
horses  are  of  that  disposition.  Up  to  this  time  (it  was  the 
middle  of  February,  1922 — Ed.)  he  has  not  known  what  it 
is  to  be  on  the  ailing  list.  The  boys  tell  me  that  he  never 
has  missed  a  feed,  and  I  know  he  has  never  had  to  be  ex- 
cused from  whatever  training  stunt  was  set  for  any  particu- 
lar day.  But  that  I  mean  he  has  never  had  his  training 
interfered  with  by  sickness  or  lameness  or  anything  else. 

"He  is  a  perfect  glutton  for  hay  and  he  is  not  denied  il 
at  all.  He  gets  what  he  wants  of  it  when  he  wants  it,  and  he 
always  is  ready  for  it  and  would  be  sure  to  let  us  know  if 
we  had  not  given  him  enough.  But  the  boys  know  his  ca- 
pacity and  while  it  is  great  they  try  to  make  the  'portions' 
come  up  to  his  requirements.  His  daily  supply  of  oats  is 
about  nine  quarts  in  the  racing  season,  and  that  amount 
seems  to  have  suited  him  pretty  well. 

"I  do  not  know  that  any  of  the  routine  of  his  training 
would  be  of  interest  except  that  there  was  nothing  peculiar 
or  out  of  the  way  about  it.  He  was  trained  just  about  as  all 
good  horses  are  trained  and  he  was  keyed  up  at  the  proper 
time,  and  then  he  did  what  we  expected  him  to  do.  He  did 
not  miss  any  work  either  as  a  three-year-old  or  a  four-year- 
old,  and  when  I  began  to  drop  him  toward  fast  miles  nothing 
happened  to  prevent  me  from  carrying  out  whatever  program 
or  plan  I  had  in  mind.  He  trained  like  the  good  horse  he  is 
and  gave  me  absolutely  nothing  to  worry  about.  I  knew 
before  we  shipped  to  North  Randall  in  1921  that  he  had  his 


90  THE    TWO-MINUTE    TROTTERS 

speed,  and  knowing  that  I  knew  he  was  in  condition  to  carry 
it.  Of  course  I  finished  his  preparation  as  we  went  along, 
for  he  had  no  races  and  was  to  make  his  first  start  at  the 
second  North  Randall  meeting  in  August.  That  was  to  be 
a  mile  against  time  and  he  was  worked  according  to  what 
he  would  be  asked  to  do.  His  best  mile  before  the  first 
public  start  was  around  2:05,  but  he  was  given  his  head  on 
occasions  for  quarters  in  29  and  29^/4  seconds. 

'^He  wore  throughout  the  season  five  ounce  bar  shoes  in 
front  and  four  ounce  swedge  shoes  behind.  He  requires 
no  toe  weights  and  in  his  record  mile  he  wore  no  boots  in 
front  and  those  behind  were  light  shin  with  speedy-cut  at- 
tachment." 

As  Mr.  Murphy  has  stated  that  Arion  Guy  had  no  bad 
habits  at  any  time,  it  might  be  said  here  that  there  is  but 
one  thing  about  him  that  has  made  him  at  all  difficult  to 
train  or  race,  and  that  is  that  he  is  what  one  writer  has  termed 
"ticklish,"  and  there  is  no  better  word  to  describe  it.  He 
was,  and  to  an  extent  still  is,  somewhat  sensitive  to  the  gnats 
and  bugs  that  hit  him  about  the  muzzle.  He  simply  did  not 
like  that  sort  of  visitors,  as  they  appeared  to  sting  him  a 
great  deal  more  than  they  do  most  horses.  It  follows  that 
dirt  that  hits  him  in  the  same  place  is,  to  him,  nothing  to 
ask  for  more  of.  This  ticklishness  is  also  shown  when  dirt 
or  clods  strike  his  stomach.  Fortunately,  owing  to  the  care 
of  those  who  developed  and  trained  him,  he  did  not  become 
at  all  erratic,  if  that  is  the  word  which  correctly  expresses 
the  idea.  Perhaps  it  would  be  better  to  say  that  it  has  not 
made  him  unreliable.  It  appears  to  be  not  at  all  mental, 
but  is  merely  the  sensitiveness  of  the  particular  parts  named. 
It  is  the  opinion  of  those  who  should  know  about  such  things 
that  kindly  care  has  brought  this  trotter  up  to  the  point  where 
he  is  not  at  all  hampered  by  the  failure  of  nature  to  endow 
him  with  a  tough  muzzle  and  stomach  hide.  There  is  nothing 
else  that  troubles  him.  Life  is  easy  for  him  because  of  his 
perfect  disposition,  splendid  appetite  and  ability  to  do  the 
great  things  required  of  him. 

It  v^ould  be  doing  the  wrong  thing  to  omit  from  this 
chapter  the  observation  of  Markey  on  the  Arion  Guy  way 


ARION    GUY  91 

of  doing  things.  That  accomplished  writer  printed  this 
about  him: 

"He  is  the  quickest-moving  horse  that  I  ever  saw  in 
harness,  trotter  or  pacer.  No  other  trotter,  in  my  opinion, 
has  such  remarkable  use  of  its  legs  and  none  can  so  quickly 
move  from  a  2:05  into  a  two-minute  clip.  His  gait  seems 
suddenly  to  change  when  he  opens  up  in  high  speed  and 
one  constantly  wonders  just  how  much  faster  he  could  step 
should  Tommy  feed  him  more  gas.  He  is  apt  to  rush  at 
any  time,  especially  if  the  runner  comes  up  to  him  suddenly, 
and  on  the  occasion  of  his  1:591/4  mile  this  was  the  case 
shortly  after  the  three-eighths  pole  was  passed.  He  hit  a 
terrific  clip  instantaneously  and  the  horsemen  with  whom 
I  was  standing  remarked  that  he  was  flying.  We  have  had 
a  number  of  horses  whose  stroke  was  just  as  rapid,  but  none 
who  could  handle  themselves  after  the  acrobatic  fashion  of 
Arion  Guy.  As  a  general  thing  rapid  striders  among  the 
smaller  horses  do  not  stride  far,  but  for  his  inches  Arion 
Guy  certainly  discounts  that  rule.  He  does  not  go  at  it  with 
the  rhythmical  precision  of  that  beautifully  gaited  stallion 
Etawah  2:03,  but  there  is  more  flash  to  his  gait.  He  has  a 
way  of  using  his  body  muscles  that  reminds  me  of  Minor 
Heir.  The  muscles  along  their  backs  appeared  to  creep  and 
crawl  as  if  they  were  boring  themselves  through  the  air." 

Entering  his  fifth  year  Arion  Guy  does  not  appear  to  have 
gained  in  heighth  and  looks  as  if  his  growth  upward  at  least 
has  ceased  though  that  is  merely  an  opinion  and  has  no  value 
nor  would  it  make  any  difference  if  it  had.  He  is  an  inch 
and  a  quarter  over  15  hands  so  that  he  is  not  a  small  horse. 
It  has  been  remarked  of  him  that,  unlike  Lee  Axworthy,  he 
is  not  a  "big  little"  horse.  He  is  not  of  the  same  general 
make-up  despite  their  very  close  relationship.  (One  was  a 
son  of  Guy  Axworthy  with  a  Bingen  dam,  the  other  is  a  son 
of  Guy  Axworthy  with  a  dam  by  a  son  of  Bingen.)  But 
Arion  Guy,  like  Lee  Axworthy,  looks  the  part  of  a  fast  trot- 
ter and  is  not  out  of  horse  proportion  anywhere.  Maybe 
that  observation  is  of  no  particular  value  as  it  is  made  about 
two  horses  that  have  established  reputation  as  speed  marvels. 
There  is  that  about  him  which  prevents  any  one  from  at- 


g2  THE    TWO-MINUTE    TROTTERS 

tempting  to  say  how  he  would  prefer  to  have  his  conforma- 
tion changed  if  it  could  be  done. 

No  photograph  so  far  taken  of  him,  in  harness,  does  him 
full  justice.  Tommy  Murphy  has  one  the  execution  of  which 
is  most  excellent  but  it  is  not  at  all  a  picture  of  the  horse.  It 
has  the  same  fault  that  most  of  the  others  have  in  that  it 
makes  him  look  about  as  big  as  a  bamboo  pole  around  the 
flanks.  And  it  has  the  further  fault  that  it  makes  his  neck 
look  like  it  belonged  to  some  other  trotter.  So  have  most 
of  the  rest  so  far  exhibited.  The  one  used  in  this  volume 
is  the  best  that  has  been  found  and  it  fails  to  show  this  great 
young  trotter  as  he  really  is  and  as  rugged  and  full  made. 
Tommy  Murphy  explains  the  drawn-up  "spindly"  look 
shown  in  the  photographs  to  the  fact  that  they  were  snapped 
at  a  time  when  the  colt  was  getting  ready  for  a  long  breath 
and  had  almost  entirely  emptied  his  lungs  as  well  as  con- 
tracted his  flank  muscles.  It  should  be  added  that  the  faulty 
photographs  are  all  of  him  standing  and  not  of  him  in 
motion. 

It  is  doubtful  if  he  will  ever  be  any  better-looking  than 
he  now  is  for  if  so  he  will  be  more  than  a  picture,  for  that 
he  is.  There  might  have  been  a  time  when  he  would  have 
been  considered  too  handsome  to  amount  to  much.  But 
that  no  longer  obtains  as  an  opinion  among  horsemen.  We 
have  had  too  many  good-looking,  too  many  handsome  fast 
trotters  in  recent  years.  Much  has  been  said  about  his  gait 
and  no  more  need  be  added  except  that  if  one  cares  to  com- 
pare it  with  Lee  Axworthy  the  chief  diff^erence  is  that  Arion 
Guy  does  not  "wing"  with  either  front  foot  nor  does  he  go  so 
high.  Whether  he  is  "Childs-gaited"  or  "Murphy-gaited" 
those  who  care  to  do  so  may  decide  for  themselves.  There 
is  one  fact  that  cannot  be  erased  from  the  records  and  that 
is  that  he  is  two-minute  gaited. 

Reference  has  been  made  to  the  speed  shown  in  spots  in 
the  race  for  the  Kentucky  Futurity  which  Arion  Guy  won, 
hence  there  is  but  little  to  be  added.  It  is  however  worth 
while  to  say  that  the  time  made  in  either  of  the  fast  miles, 
2:04'14  both  the  first  and  the  third,  was  not  a  measure  of 
the  speed  of  the  winner. 


ARION    GUY  93 

No  racing  engagements  were  made  for  the  colt  for  the 
year  1921.  By  the  conditions  he  was  barred  from  the 
$15,000  purse  at  North  Randall.  He  had  passed  to  the 
ownership  of  Mrs.  H.  K.  Devereux  and  with  true  "sports- 
manship", if  the  word  may  be  permitted,  she  did  not  want 
the  impression  to  prevail  that  the  race  was  made  for  her 
young  trotter.  There  were  no  other  purses  to  speak  of  and 
the  plans  made  for  him  in  the  Spring  contemplated  a  two- 
minute  or  better  record  and  nothing  more.  He  was  prepared 
w^ith  that  in  view  and  was  started  but  three  times  during  the 
season.  His  first  start  was  at  the  second  meeting  at  North 
Randall  and  the  mile  in  2:03  was  the  trotting  record  for  the 
season  to  that  date,  August  9tli.  The  fractional  time  of  the 
mile  was  31'^,  1:03,  1:33^,  2:03,  showing  that  the  last 
quarter  was  trotted  in  29'^4  seconds  and  proving  that  the 
colt  had  lost  none  of  his  "whizz".  The  effort  was  merely 
to  lower  his  record  of  2:04'*^. 

At  Syracuse  he  was  started  to  beat  2:03.  his  record,  and 
he  trotted  the  mile  in  2:01  which  made  him  the  world's  cham- 
pion four-year-old  trotter.  The  fractional  time  of  that  mile 
was,  31,  l:00yo,  1:307^,  2:01.  The  middle  half,  it  will  be 
seen,  was  trotted  in  59^  seconds  forecasting  a  two-minute 
mile  in  the  near  future. 

The  effort  to  add  another  member  to  the  family  of  two- 
minute  trotters  was  made  at  Lexington,  Ky.,  October  6th  and 
was,  as  had  been  anticipated,  a  most  successful  one.  One 
writer  on  turf  topics  who  saw  the  mile  trotted,  it  w  as  an  effort 
to  beat  2:01,  said:  "The  task  set  for  the  colt  looked  like  an 
enormous  one  but  he  surprised  the  crowd  by  trotting  to  a 
record  of  1:591/),  finishing  strong  and  full  of  trot."  The 
official  fractional  time  shows  that  he  reached  the  quarter  in 
30  seconds  and  that  the  half  was  trotted  in  a  minute;  the 
third  quarter  was  covered  in  29-^4  seconds  and  the  final 
quarter  in  the  same  time,  making  the  time  of  the  last  half 
of  the  mile  5914  seconds. 

Tliere  had  never  before  been  a  four-year-old  two-min- 
ute trotter  and  the  enthusiasm  shown  at  the  conclusion  of  the 
mile  has  probably  not  been  equaled  at  a  harness  meeting 
since  the  dav  Lou  Dillon  trotted  the  first  two-minute  mile 


94  THE    TWO-MINUTE    TROTTERS 

in  1903  at  Readville.  It  is  not  unlikely  that  the  youth  of 
the  performer  had  much  to  do  with  the  splendid  reception 
he  received  as  the  official  time  was  announced  for  there  must 
have  been  many  present  who  were  looking  for  the  arrival  of 
the  two-minute  three-year-old  trotter  and  who  felt  that,  a 
four-year-old  having  trotted  in  time  better  than  two  minutes, 
their  hopes  would,  ere  long,  become  a  reality.  At  all  events 
the  performer  leaped  to  great  popularity  and  predictions 
were  freely  made  that  he  was  more  than  likely  to  become  the 
champion  trotter. 

On  that  score  his  trainer  has  expressed  a  conservative 
belief  which  will  be  found  in  the  chapter  telling  about  Peter 
Manning.  He  expects  that  great  trotter  to  get  to  1 :56,  maybe 
shade  it,  though  he  makes  no  boast  to  that  effect  being  con- 
tent with  the  belief  that  the  horse  is  equal  to  it.  That  he 
believes  Arion  Guy  capable  of  lowering  the  record  for  trot- 
ting stallions  goes  without  the  saying. 

And  regarding  that  it  may  be  well  to  again  quote  from 
Markey  who  records  his  ideas  in  this  manner:  "I  heard 
hundreds  of  initiated  horsemen  say  that  they  believed  Arion 
Guy  would  eventually  secure  a  faster  record  than  would 
Peter  Manning.  It  wasn't  that  they  failed  to  appreciate  the 
tremendous  achievement  of  the  world's  champion,  but  that 
the  colt,  through  his  more  dashing  style,  had  swept  them 
away.  Personally  I  believe  that  Peter  Manning  will  next 
season  (1922)  trot  right  at  or  even  shade  1:56,  but,  highly 
as  I  regard  Arion  Guy's  capabilities,  I  have  not  been  able 
to  make  myself  believe  that  he  will  ever  trot  quite  that  fast. 
That  he  will  dethrone  Lee  Axworthy  as  the  trotting  king  I 
have  slight  doubt." 

No  story  of  Arion  Guy  would  be  at  all  near  complete  if 
it  omitted  mention  of  the  very  capable  young  man  who  has 
charge  of  him.  He  is  George  Yax,  who  has  earned  a  high 
reputation  as  a  caretaker.  He  goes  about  his  work  after  the 
manner  of  one  who  has  learned  it  thoroughly,  not  only,  but 
who  takes  a  delight  in  it.  Naturally  he  is  proud  of  his  cham- 
pion but  in  addition  to  that  he  has  a  genuine  affection  for 
him,  just  as  the  horse  appears  to  have  for  him.  They  have 
much  the  same  disposition  and  George  handles  him  much  as 


ARION    GUY  95 

if  he  were  just  a  good-natured,  well-doing  horse  that  had  not 
yet  got  his  picture  "on  the  front  page".  And  that  is  why 
George  is  a  good  caretaker  and  it  is  also  one  reason  why 
Arion  Guy  has  always  progressed.  The  combination  has 
been  a  happy  and  a  successful  one.  May  it  continue  until 
all  the  possible  honors  have  been  acquired. 

Arion  Guy  is  the  product  of  modern  breeding,  intelligent 
breaking  and  developing,  skillful  training  and  driving  and 
capable  caretaking  and  is  justly  entitled  to  be  a  champion. 

Mr.  Harold  Childs,  of  Lexington,  Ky.,  who  developed 
Arion  Guy  tells  the  story  of  the  early  lessons  of  the  four- 
year-old  champion  in  the  following  highly  interesting  way: 

"Arion  Guy  was  placed  with  me  early  in  1919  by  Mr. 
Al  D.  Hughes,  then  Superintendent  of  Mr.  C.  B.  Shaffer's 
Cold  Stream  Farm,  he  having  purchased  him  from  Mr. 
Shaffer  and  wanted  him  broken  and  developed. 

'T  found  the  youngster  to  be  very  sensible  and  with  a 
clever  disposition  both  in  and  out  of  the  stable.  He  was  no 
trouble  to  break  but  had  great  nerve  force  and  was  full  of 
'pep'  and  there  is  no  doubt  that  rough  usage  or  harsh  treat- 
ment of  any  kind  would  have  ruined  him.  As  he  was  but 
two  and  entirely  undeveloped  as  to  speed  I  brought  him 
along  slowly  but  soon  found  that  he  was  beautifully  gaited 
and  had  a  great  amount  of  natural  trotting  speed  for  a  short 
brush  and  so  I  worked  him  well  within  himself  with  the  idea 
of  getting  him  thoroughly  seasoned  and  his  muscles  and 
lungs  well  developed  before  asking  too  much  of  him  in  the 
speed  line.  But  I  would  brush  him  right  'up  on  his  toes'  for 
a  short  distance  at  the  end  of  his  work  and  would  do  that 
two  or  three  times  a  week. 

"About  the  first  of  July  I  began  working  him  slow  miles 
and  repeat  every  other  day  with  an  occasional  brush  at  the 
finish  and  kept  gradually  dropping  him  down  until  fall  when 
I  started  him  at  a  record  meeting  and  gave  him  a  breeder's 
record  of  2:2014  which  he  took  with  all  possible  ease,  with  a 
brush  through  the  stretch  at  the  finish.  I  have  no  doubt  but 
that  he  could  have  trotted  in  2:12  that  day  but  as  that  was 
only  the  fourth  time  he  had  been  asked  to  beat  2:30  it  would 


q6  the  two-minute  trotters 

probably  have  done  him  great  harm  to  'tear  into'  him  for  a 
mile,  so  I  resisted  the  temptation  to  do  so. 

"About  this  time,  Mr.  Shaffer  having  bought  the  colt 
back  from  Mr.  Hughes  came  to  my  stable  to  look  him  over 
and  said  that  having  sold  all  the  rest  of  his  horse  holdings 
except  two  or  three  favorite  mares  which  he  had  pensioned 
he  would  like  to  sell  the  colt.  During  the  Trots  that  fall 
Mr.  Thomas  W.  Murphy  became  interested  in  the  youngster 
and  after  driving  him  a  half  in  1:03'%|^,  last  quarter  in  31^ 
seconds  against  a  very  strong  wind,  (this  was  the  first  time 
a  stranger  had  ever  pulled  a  line  over  him)  bought  him  and 
shipped  him  with  his  other  horses  to  Poughkeepsie. 

"Arion  Guy  wore  light  half-round  bar  shoes  in  front, 
light  swedged  shoes  behind.  The  front  angle  was  48  and 
the  hind  angle  53.  He  wore  very  light  quarter  boots  in  front 
and  shin  boots  with  speedy-cut  attachment  behind;  no  scalp- 
ers nor  toe  weights.  I  understand  that  the  shoeing  has  never 
been  changed.  I  used  a  Bristol  bit  with  a  chin  strap  buckled 
into  the  check  instead  of  a  check  bit. 

"He  never  gave  me  any  trouble  about  his  gait,  he  was 
always  clean-gaited,  went  straight  and  true  and  never  re- 
quired side  poles,  side  straps  or  any  other  gaiting  devices. 
He  always  was  a  very  easy,  nice  colt  to  train  and  while  I 
had  him  he  never  made  a  speed  break." 

Harold  Childs  has  been  one  of  our  most  successful  de- 
velopers of  colt  trotters  and  his  success  with  Arion  Guy  but 
added  to  the  long  list  of  such  successes  he  has  scored.  The 
innate  modesty  of  the  man,  his  total  lack  of  inclination  to 
brag  was  never  more  clearly  shown  than  in  the  letter  he  has 
written  for  use  in  this  volume. 

There  has  never  been  any  question  raised  as  to  the  game- 
ness  of  Arion  Guy  but  some  adverse  comment  as  to  his  dam 
became  current  shortly  after  Mr.  Murphy  purchased  him. 
Perhaps  something  of  the  early  history  of  the  dam,  Margaret 
Parrish,  will  be  of  interest.  There  never  was  any  question 
as  to  her  speed  nor  that  she  tried  as  far  as  she  could  go, 
which  is  always  the  best  evidence  of  courage.  But  there  was 
a  time  in  her  career  when  she  suffered  from  the  effects  of  a 
severe  attack  of  sickness  and  one  of  the  after  effects  was  a 


ARION    GUY  97 

collection  of  deep  sores  in  her  neck  which  healed  very  slowly 
and  she  was  an  occupant  of  Billy  Andrews'  hospital  for 
weeks,  he  then  having  her  in  training.  She  was  nursed  along 
carefully  and  finally  raced  and  lowered  the  record  for 
four-year-olds  to  2:0614  despite  the  fact  that  her  trainer 
and  her  owner  had  not  the  slightest  idea  that  she  would  ever 
recover  sufficiently  from  her  sickness  to  be  of  any  account. 
Eddie  Wise,  who  took  care  of  her  during  that  siege  is  of 
the  firm  opinion  that  but  for  the  sickness  she  would  have 
been  one  of  the  most  sensational  race  mares  of  her  time.  He 
believes  she  was  as  game  as  most  trotters  and  his  belief  is 
based  on  the  fact  that  when  she  let  down  it  was  always  at  the 
finish  of  a  mile  and  that  nothing  could  make  her  stop  until 
she  had  tried  for  her  life.  His  opinion,  arising,  as  it  does, 
from  actual  knowledge  of  the  condition  of  the  mare  and  what 
she  did  in  her  races,  ought  to  be  about  enough  to  fix  the 
correct  status  of  Margaret  Parrish  especially  when  it  is  con- 
sidered in  connection  with  the  great  colt  she  produced.  He 
finished  his  l:59l/>  mile  at  Lexington  "one-two-three-four" 
as  Eddie  puts  it  and  not  with  the  air  "full  of  legs". 

On  this  same  subject  Mr.  Murphy  shows  more  enthusi- 
asm than  he  does  about  most  things  connected  with  the  horses 
he  trains.  He  had  Margaret  Parrish  in  her  sixth  year  and 
gave  her  a  careful  preparation  for  a  Grand  Circuit  campaign 
so  he  knows  something  about  her  ability.  He  said,  when 
asked  about  it:  "Margaret  Parrish  was  a  great  trotter.  It 
makes  no  difference  now  and  it  will  make  no  difference  to 
me  at  any  time  what  may  be  said  about  her,  she  was  one  of 
the  greatest  trotters  I  ever  trained  and  if  I  could  have  been 
so  fortunate  as  to  get  her  to  the  races  there  would  not  be  any 
one  now  to  talk  about  her  being  a  quitter.  She  had  entirely 
overcome  the  effects  of  the  severe  sickness  from  which  she 
suffered  when  Billy  Andrews  had  her  and  she  showed  me 
enough  to  make  me  believe  that  there  never  had  been  many 
trotters  trained  that  could  show  more  mile  speed.  The 
reason  she  was  not  raced  is  that  she  bowed  a  tendon  and  we 
could  not  go  on  with  her.  It  was  a  source  of  great  regret  to 
me  for  more  than  one  reason." 

That  ought  to  settle  the  matter  of  the  qualifications  of 


98  ARION    GUY 

Margaret  Parrish.  The  testimony  of  Mr.  Murphy  and  that 
of  Eddie  Wise  make  a  case  strong  enough  to  convince  the 
most  prejudiced  jury. 

After  the  mare  broke  down  she  was  mated  by  Tommy 
with  Guy  Axworthy,  the  latter  then  being  in  his  charge  at 
Poughkeepsie.  The  credit  of  breeding  the  resultant  foal, 
Arion  Guy,  goes  to  the  Hudson  River  Stock  Farm,  and  that 
is  Thomas  W.  Murphy.  John  E.  Madden  owned  the  mare; 
she  was  sired  by  his  horse  Vice  Commodore.  She  was  later 
sold  at  public  auction  and  purchased  by  Mr.  C.  B.  Shaffer 
and  Arion  Guy  was  foaled  his  property. 


^ 


THE  TWO-MINUTE  PACERS 


STAR  POINTER 
DAN  PATCH 
PRINCE  ALERT 
AUDUBON  BOY 
MINOR  HEIR 
WILLIAM 
DLRECTUM  I 
FRANK  BOGASH,  Jr. 
SINGLE   G. 
NAPOLEON   DIRECT 
MISS   HARRIS   M. 
PRINCE  LOREE 
LOUIE  GRATTAN 
SANARDO 


Should  ould  acquaintance  be  forgot 

An    never  brought  to  min  ; 

Should  ould  acquaintance  be  forgot 

An    days  o    lang  syne? 

— Robert  Burns. 


STAR   POINTER 

The  World's  First  Two-Minute  Performer 
Record  1:591/4 

TAR  POINTER  1:591/4,  a  bay  horse  by  Brown  Hal- 
Sweepstakes  by  Snowheels,  was  the  world's  first  two- 
minute  performer.  He  took  his  record  at  Readville, 
Mass.,  August  28th,  1897,  driven  by  Mr.  Dave  McCleary 
and  the  effort  was  to  beat  the  world's  pacing  record  of 
2:00yo,  held  by  John  R.  Gentry. 

Mr.  McCleary,  to  whose  careful  efforts  were  largely  due 
the  coming  of  the  two-minute  pacer,  had  his  troubles  with 
the  fast  son  of  Brown  Hal,  for  it  took  almost  constant  work 
to  keep  his  feet  and  legs  in  shape  to  stand  fast  miles.  Dave 
writes  under  date  of  Januaiy  29,  1922,  from  New  York, 
where  he  is  engaged  in  conducting  a  large  garage: 

'T  am  only  sorry  that  there  is  not  something  to  tell  of 
a  method  of  training  Star  Pointer  that  was  religiously  ad- 
hered  to  or  in  a  measure  consistently  followed.  But  as  he 
had  some  ailments  that  would  not  stand  the  ordinary  train- 
ing that  naturally  should  be  given  to  the  type  of  animal 
he  was  and  with  the  amount  of  speed  he  had,  what  he  did 
accomplish  tends  to  show  what  a  wonderful  horse  he  was  to 
continue  to  go  the  fast  miles  he  did  under  those  conditions. 

"He  had  no  peculiarities  that  I  recall,  was  just  a  good, 
big  horse.  Nor  had  he  any  bad  habits  when  he  came  to  me 
and  he  did  not  acquire  any  while  I  had  him. 

"I  consider  our  great  success  w4th  Star  Pointer  was  due 
to  the  fact  that  we  had  one  of  the  greatest  caretakers  that 


I04  THE    TWO-MINUTE    PACERS 

ever  looked  after  the  welfare  of  a  horse — Jesse  H.  Smith — 
who  had  all  the  care  of  him  during  the  time  he  was  in  train- 
ing- 

"Regarding  his  shoeing — he  wore  seven  ounce  bar  shoes 

in  front  and  four  ounce  open  shoes  behind.  He  wore  a 
plain  snaffle  bit  and  Raymond  check.  His  boots  were  many — 
knee  and  arm,  front  shin,  ankle  and  quarter  and  behind 
ankle  and  coronet. 

"In  training  him  we  never  allowed  him  to  stand  any 
day  without  jogging.  He  was  a  very  gross  horse  and  filled 
up  considerably  and  our  principal  motto  was  'plenty  of 
miles'  without  extreme  speed,  starting,  of  course,  with  a 
lot  of  slow  miles  in  the  spring  until  reaching  2:40.  After 
that  period  we  worked  him  twice  a  week,  Tuesday  and  Fri- 
day. The  work  on  Tuesday  would  be  light,  consisting 
usually  of  two  or  three  slow  heats.  Friday  was  his  hardest 
work  day  and  then  we  would  aim  to  reduce  his  time  from 
the  2:40  period  about  three  seconds  in  one  or  two  of  the 
heats.  Then,  on  the  following  Tuesday  he  would  have  an- 
other light  work  and  on  Friday  again  he  would  be  reduced 
three  seconds  from  the  previous  Friday  until  we  would 
reach  the  neighborhood  of  2:15  with  him.  Then  for  two 
weeks  he  would  be  trained  back  to  2:22  or  2:25.  We  would 
then  start  him  in  the  same  rotation  of  increase  until  down 
to  2:02.    He  was  then  ready  for  fast  miles. 

"All  of  this  time,  weather  permitting,  he  did  not  miss  a 
day  in  harness;  even  after  work  days  his  jogging  would 
consist  of  two  or  three  miles.  We  endeavored  to  score  but 
little,  as  his  work  did  not  require  scoring  and  as  a  rule  he 
either  raced  against  one  horse  or  went  against  time." 

Star  Pointer  made  his  first  public  appearance  when  he 
was  a  five-year-old,  at  Chicago,  August  20th,  1894  and  raced 
with  success  the  seasons  of  1895  and  1896.  But  it  is  of  the 
racing  season  of  1897  and  1898  that  this  story  is  most  con- 
cerned for  it  was  in  those  two  years  that  he  set  world's  records 
and  entered  the  two-minute  list — the  pioneer  of  the  twenty 
whose  stories  make  up  this  volume. 

In  1897  he  won  the  free-for-all  events  at  Chicago,  Cleve- 
land and  Hartford  and  was  beaten  by  Joe  Patchen  at  Colum- 


STAR    POINTER  IO5 

bus.  At  Fort  Erie  he  was  started  to  beat  2:021/)  and  paced 
the  mile  in  2:01%^.  At  Mystic  Park  he  started  against, 
and  defeated  Joe  Patchen,  in  the  first  two-minute  class  ever 
put  on  a  program,  but  over  that  slow  track  the  time  was  far 
away  from  two-minutes.  Pointer  winning  in  2:03'%^,  2:04^. 
That  same  year  he  lost  a  race  to  Joe  Patchen  at  Milwaukee. 
He  set  a  number  of  track  records,  among  which  were  the 
following:  Terre  Haute,  2:001/2;  Ottumwa,  la.,  2:011/4; 
St.  Joseph,  Mo.,  2:02;  Omaha,  Neb.,  2:0214.  He  started 
in  several  match  races  against  Joe  Patchen,  the  pair  making 
an  extended  tour  of  the  west,  and  won  most  of  them.  Their 
most  sensational  race  took  place  at  the  Illinois  State  Fair 
and  came  very  near  to  being  the  most  disappointing  contest 
ever  staged  by  fast  pacers.  In  the  first  heat  Star  Pointer 
made  an  all-day  break  and  Joe  Patchen  won  in  2:14.  In 
the  second  heat  Joe  Patchen  "obliged"  and  his  break  slowed 
the  mile  to  2:06 — it  was  made  at  the  head  of  the  home 
stretch  to  which  point  the  pair  had  gone  at  a  two-minute  clip. 
The  immense  crowd  groaned  and  jeered  and  hissed.  But 
the  third  heat  made  history  and  slaughtered  records.  Both 
horses  paced  straight  and  true  the  entire  mile.  It  was  an 
evenly  rated  one,  the  pair  passing  the  three-quarter  pole  in 
1 :30  and  almost  head  and  head,  with  Star  Pointer  at  a 
slight  advantage  which  he  maintained  to  the  wire  and  the 
mile  was  done  in  2:001/^,  Joe  Patchen  but  a  quarter  of  a 
second  away.  This  mile  set  a  bundle  of  records.  It  was 
the  fastest  heat  ever  paced,  by  a  horse  of  any  sex;  it  was 
the  fastest  third  heat  ever  paced  and  it  presaged  the  two- 
minute  race  heat.  And  yet  it  stood  as  the  world's  race  rec- 
ord for  pacers  for  nearly  a  dozen  years. 

Star  Pointer's  crowning  achievement  of  the  year,  was,  of 
course,  his  mile  in  1:591 4,  at  Readville.  A  contemporary 
account  of  the  performance  is  somewhat  unique  and  is  as 
follows : 

"The  big  1200  pound  horse  seemed  stiff  and  sore,  as  he 
jogged  down  the  track.  The  first  score,  accompanied  by  a 
running  mate,  was  not  satisfactory  and  starter  Walker  called 
them  back.  The  next  trial  was  worse  for  just  at  the  wire 
Pointer  went  into  a  break  while  not  stepping  a  2:20  gait. 


I06  THE    TWO-MINUTE    PACERS 

Bad  scoring  did  not  presage  a  fast  mile.  The  crowd  became 
a  trifle  apathetic.  But  on  the  third  time  down,  after  having 
scored  nearly  to  the  quarter  in  both  the  other  attempts, 
reinsman  Dave  McClary  nodded  for  the  word. 

"The  first  quarter  was  an  anxious  one.  A  repetition  of 
the  break  was  looked  for  but  McClary  was  driving  as  usual 
with  a  more  snug  hold  of  the  pacer.  As  the  watches  snapped 
the  quarter  a  sigh  of  relief  went  up.  With  his  big,  easy 
stride  the  stallion  had  stepped  the  first  two  furlongs  in  just 
thirty  seconds,  a  two-minute  clip.  Big  Jim  Murphy,  the 
owner  of  the  horse,  in  a  box  in  the  grand  stand  took  courage 
and  when  Knap  McCarthy,  behind  the  runner,  shouted  to 
McClary  that  the  quarter  was  in  30l^  seconds  the  latter 
asked  the  stallion  to  increase  his  clip.  He  wanted  to  get  to 
the  half  in  a  minute  and  was  ready  to  take  chances  coming 
home. 

"A  mighty  cheer  went  up  from  the  grand  stand  as  a  half- 
thousand  watches  caught  the  half  in  59%^  seconds.  The 
three-quarters  in  1 :29  caused  another  cheer  and  starter  Frank 
Walker  asked  for  silence.  Around  the  turn  the  pacer  stepped 
a  little  to  the  outside  but  the  waver  was  but  for  the  fraction 
of  a  second  and  once  into  the  stretch  the  horse  moved  per- 
fectly. 

"The  driver  says  that  at  the  distance  Pointer  appeared 
to  be  at  his  limit  but  when  he  called  on  him  and  the  runner 
came  along  the  horse  appeared  to  forget  he  had  been  beat- 
ing the  two-minute  mark  and  responded  with  a  burst  right 
at  the  wire.  It  was  not  so  rapid  as  to  cause  a  sensation  but  it 
was  sufficient  to  make  the  last  quarter  in  30^  seconds  and 
the  horse  seemed  to  be  within  himself. 

"The  two-minute  mark  was  beaten  by  three-quarters  of 
a  second.  McClary  was  hoisted  on  the  shoulders  of  his 
friends  and  taken  from  the  sulky  to  the  stand.  The  crowded 
grand  stand  went  wild  and  horse,  driver  and  owner  received 
an  ovation.  Scores  of  watches  caught  the  time  as  announced 
by  the  judges  and  Mr.  C.  W.  Marks,  of  Chicago,  who  saw  the 
greatest  rival  to  Joe  Patchen  widen  the  gap  between  the  two, 
declared  that  if  anything,  the  mile  was  paced  in  1:59." 


With  strides  like  the  stroke  of  a  frictionless  piston 
And  breath  like  the  breath  of  the  steam  just  beneath. 

— John  Troticood  Moore. 


PRINCE   ALERT 

Champion  Racing  Pacer,  1901  (2:00%) 
Record  1:591/2 

RINCE  ALERT  1:59V1>  (rejected  record  1:57)  was 
perhaps  more  renowned  as  a  race  horse  than  as  an 
exhibition  animal.  He  was  a  public  figure  in  the 
United  States  for  ten  years  and  in  that  time  started  in  81 
races,  paced  279  heats  and  won  143  of  them.  He  started 
in  ten  or  more  exhibition  miles  and  while  he  equaled  or  beat 
two  minutes  in  some  of  them,  it  was  as  a  race-horse  that  he 
shone  as  is  evidenced  by  his  record  of  2:02  in  a  race  in 
1900  and  one  of  2:00%  in  1901,  this  latter  being  then  the 
world's  record  for  a  second  heat.  He  held  other  world's 
records,  including  that  for  pacing  geldings,  2:00%;  that  for 
the  fastest  three  heat  race  on  a  half-mile  track  and  he  won 
the  then  fastest  four  and  five  heat  races  on  the  small  oval. 

Mart  Demarest  trained  and  raced  him  in  the  hey-day 
of  his  career  and  in  answer  to  a  request  for  information 
concerning  this  great  gelding  wrote  under  date  of  January 
29th,  1922: 

"The  preparation  of  Prince  Alert  for  his  fast  miles  was 
very  limited  as  I  raced  him  wherever  I  could  in  purse  races. 
I  never  drove  him,  but  once,  in  his  training  better  than  2:04 
and  that  was  a  mile  at  Empire  City  tracks  when  I  was  pre- 
paring him  for  his  effort  against  the  record  of  Dan  Patch,  in 
which  effort  he  paced  in  1 :57.  I  consider  his  mile  at  Bel- 
mont Park,  Philadelphia,  the  last  of  October,  1903,  his  best. 
He  paced  in  1:59^. 

"I  think  he  was  the  fastest  and  gamest  horse  the  country 
ever   saw   up   to   that   time.      He   was    a   very   good   feeder 


no  THE    TWO-MINUTE    PACERS 

but  required  lots  of  slow  work  and  had  he  been  fortunate 
enough  to  fall  into  Walter  Cox's  hands  instead  of  mine,  I 
think  they  would  still  be  shooting  at  his  record. 

"I  rigged  him  with  an  open  bridle,  plain  leather  bit  and 
shod  him  with  a  six  ounce  bar  shoe  in  front  with  calk  straight 
across  the  shoe  and  small  heel  calks.  Behind  he  wore 
three  and  a  half  ounce  shoes  with  bar,  the  latter  merely  to 
strengthen  the  shoe. 

"The  last  two  years  I  had  him  he  could  beat  any  horse 
that  was  racing.  I  know  you  know  how  hard  I  tried  to 
match  him  against  Dan  Patch,  but  McHenry  would  never 
let  them  make  the  race.  The  nearest  I  ever  came  to  getting 
a  crack  at  Dan  Patch  was  at  Memphis,  Tenn.,  where  we  were 
both  on  the  program  to  go  the  same  day.  I  went  with  Prince 
Alert  in  two  minutes  flat  and  McHenry  would  not  start 
his  horse.  That  night  McHenry  said  to  Secretary  Murray 
Howe,  in  the  Gayoso  Hotel  that  he  wanted  Dan  on  the  card 
for  the  next  day  and  I  said:  Tut  Prince  Alert  on  too.  I 
will  go  within  ten  minutes  of  the  time  he  starts  and  will  go 
a  faster  mile  than  he  will  go.'  Dan  Patch  went  first,  the 
next  day,  and  they  hung  out  2:00%  and  I  never  saw 
McHenry  drive  harder.  Ten  minutes  afterward  I  came  out 
with  Prince  Alert,  went  the  mile  and  they  hung  out  2:0014' 

"As  these  two  miles  were  on  consecutive  days  it  was  the 
expressed  opinion  of  Mr.  Budd  Doble  and  Mr.  Geers  that 
it  was  a  remarkable  performance.  The  had  coaxed  me 
not  to  start  the  horse  the  second  day  as  they  both  said  no 
horse  had  ever  gone  two  fast  miles  on  two  consecutive  days." 

In  1901  Prince  Alert  had  been  such  a  formidable  an- 
tagonist for  the  rest  of  the  fast  pacers  that  the  opening  of 
the  campaign  of  1902  found  him  with  no  other  opponent 
than  Anaconda  who,  as  events  speedily  showed  was  reaching 
the  end  of  a  great  career  as  a  pacer.  He  and  Prince  Alert 
engaged  in  seven  special  races  and  the  latter  was  returned 
the  winner  in  six  of  them.  Prince  Alert  won  at  Brighton 
Beach  in  2:031/4,  2:04^4;  at  Hartford  in  the  same  time;  at 
Providence  Anaconda  beat  him  in  2:02%,  2:02.  Over  the 
half  mile  tracks  at  Bethlehem,  Pa.,  and  Trenton,  N.  J.,  Prince 
Alert  was  the  winner  and  he  paced  the  Bethlehem  track  in 


PRINCE    ALERT  III 

2:05,  2:051/4  in  his  victorious  effort,  rare  time  those  days 
for  a  half  mile  track.  He  also  won  at  Hagerstown,  Md.,  also 
a  half  mile  track,  and  was  the  winner  at  Philadelphia.  At 
Memphis  in  the  late  fall  he  defeated  Harold  H.  and  Dan  R. 
in  2:021/4,  2:03^4  &nd  also  won  the  memorable  match 
race  with  Sir  Albert  S.,  a  half  mile  dash  originally  made  for 
$5,000  a  side.  Prince  Alert  stepped  the  half  in  57'^  sec- 
onds, a  sample  of  the  wonderful  speed  he  possessed.  At 
that  same  meeting  he  started  three  times  for  a  record  and 
the  first  effort  was  in  2:01'^.  The  second  attempt  gave  him 
a  new  record  of  2:00  and  made  him  a  member  of  the  select 
list.  The  next  day  he  paced  a  mile  in  2:0014-  That  was  on 
the  31st  of  October  and  ended  his  activities  for  the  year. 

In  1903  most  of  his  work  was  in  exhibition  miles,  though 
he  did  engage  in  two  contests  against  his  old  antagonist. 
Anaconda,  then  racing  under  the  name  of  Knox's  Gelatine 
King,  the  manufacturer  of  the  gelatine  having  gathered  a 
stable  to  carry  the  factory  colors.  Prince  Alert  won  all  the 
races  he  started  in,  losing  one  heat  to  Dan  R.  at  Providence 
in  2:0Vy^.  Then  he  beat  Dan  R.  at  Bethlehem  and  the  next 
day  set  the  world's  record  for  pacers  over  a  half  mile  track 
at  2:03^3  lowering  the  track  record  of  2:04.  At  Lexington, 
in  the  fall  he  started  to  beat  1:59  and  paced  in  l:59l/o,  a 
two  minute  performance  but  a  losing  one.  He  had  tried  pre- 
viously at  Cincinnati  and  had  done  the  mile  in  2:01*3/4.  At 
Providence  he  started  to  beat  his  half  mile  record  of  57*^ 
and  took  off  the  fractional  time  doing  the  half  in  exactly 
57  seconds. 

That  same  year,  on  October  15th  at  Philadelphia  he 
lowered  his  record  to  1 :59^/'o  thus  having  to  his  credit  three 
different  miles  in  two  minutes  or  better. 

Prince  Alert  was  a  hoppled  pacer,  was  a  giant  physically 
and  was  a  true  race  horse  and  while  at  the  time  he  was  before 
the  public  the  hoppled  pacer  was  by  no  means  as  popular 
as  he  became  later.  Prince  Alert  was  one  of  the  popular 
idols  and  the  multitudes  who  saw  him  race  made  him  one 
of  their  chosen  favorites. 

Mart  Demarest  drove  him  to  his  official  record  of  1:591/0 
and  Jack  Curry  had  to  mount  when  Prince  Alert  paced  a 


I  I  2  THE    TWO-MINUTE    PACERS 

mile  in  1:57  at  Empire  City  track.  This  was  done  behind 
a  regularly  constructed  windshield  mounted  on  a  sulky  and 
kept  in  front  of  the  pacer  until  the  stretch  was  reached.  This 
record  was  never  allowed  by  the  American  Trotting  Register 
Association  hence  the  official  record  of  Prince  Alert  stands 
at  1:591/2. 

This  iron-sided  gelding  raced  for  ten  years  and  it  is 
worthy  of  recording  that  in  his  tenth  year  on  the  turf  he 
paced  in  two  minutes  on  two  different  occasions  and  did  a 
mile  on  the  half  mile  track  at  Allentown,  Pa.,  in  2:03^. 
Thus  he  has  to  his  credit  five  different  miles  in  two  minutes 
and  better  as  well  as  one  in  1:57  which,  while  rejected  as 
a  record  as  already  stated  was  an  indication  of  his  marvelous 
speed. 

Prince  Alert  was  a  bay  gelding  by  Crown  Prince — Till 
a  mare  of  untraced  breeding  and  was  bred  by  G.  W.  Fort, 
Knightstown,  Ind. 


In  truth  he  icas  a  noble  steed     *      *      * 
Who  looked  as  though  the  speed  of  thought 
IF  ere  in  his  limbs. 

— Lord  Byron. 


M3 


DAN    PATCH 

World's  Champion  Since  1903 
Record  1:551/4 

AN  PATCH  1:551/4  was  before  the  public  for  ten 
years  and  in  that  time  paced  many  races  and  two- 
minute  miles  making  a  clean  sweep  of  his  Grand 
Circuit  engagements  and  taking  a  record  of  l:59l/>  in  1902 
in  the  hands  of  the  late  M.  E.  McHenry.  In  1903  he  passed 
from  the  ownership  of  the  late  M.  E.  Sturgis  to  that  of  the 
late  M.  W.  Savage,  of  Minneapolis,  Minn.,  and  was  placed 
in  the  hands  of  Mr.  Harry  Hersey,  then  a  hard-working 
trainer  who  had  been  quite  successful  with  such  material 
as  had  up  to  that  time  come  to  hand.  Mr.  Hersey  gave  Dan 
his  best  record  and  drove  him  so  many  exhibition  miles 
around,  at  and  below  two-minutes  that  he  lost  the  count.  In 
the  course  of  a  recent  interview  given  for  publication  in  this 
volume  he  talked  most  entertainingly,  as  was  to  be  expected, 
and  his  contribution  cannot  fail  to  furnish  most  interesting 
reading.     He  said: 

"When  Mr.  Savage  first  spoke  to  me  in  regard  to  pur- 
chasing Dan  Patch  I  encouraged  him.  Though  his  banker 
and  other  friends  advised  him  to  keep  away  from  him, 
he  finally  made  the  purchase  and  the  horse  proved  to  be  a 
veritable  gold  mine  for  him. 

"After  he  had  made  the  deal  I  tried  to  induce  him  to 
give  the  horse  to  some  other  trainer  as  I  had  had  no  ex- 
perience with  exhibition  horses.  He  would  not  listen  to  me 
so  I  decided  that  if  he  was  game  enough  to  give  me  the 


Il6  THE    TWO-MINUTE    PACERS 

horse  I  should  be  game  enough  to  take  him  as  the  owner  had 
everything  to  lose  while  there  could  not  be  any  loss  to  me. 

"For  me  Dan  kept  big  and  strong  and  took  his  work  very 
kindly.  His  fastest  mile  before  leaving  the  farm  for  exhi- 
bition work  would  be  around  2:04.  I  do  not  believe  in  the 
seven  years  I  had  him  he  beat  2:04  more  than  once  in  his 
preparatory  training.  I  worked  him  fast  halves,  say  in  59 
seconds  to  one  minute  with  quarters  in  29  seconds  but  never 
asked  for  a  mile  at  top  speed  until  he  was  going  for  the 
money.  He  showed  that  this  method  suited  him  pretty  well. 
He  had  an  early  engagement  at  Galesburg,  111.,  and  his  best 
previous  mile  was  in  just  2:04  yet  he  paced  at  Galesburg 
in  1:57^,  the  last  half  in  571/4  seconds.  That  same  year 
he  paced  in  1:55. 

"In  warming  up  for  an  exhibition  I  would  work  him  four 
heats,  sometimes  more,  none  faster  than  2:10.  He  was  a 
horse  that  observed  everything,  looked  the  grand  stand  over 
carefully  and  saw  everything  on  the  race  track.  The  instant 
the  runner  would  enter  the  track  he  knew  it  and  would  shake 
his  head  and  play,  even  if  he  were  a  half  mile  away.  He 
took  tilings  decidedly  easy  until  the  runner  turned  with  him. 
I  would  score  him  a  couple  of  times  and  then  go.  He  could 
follow  pace  better  than  any  other  horse  I  ever  knew.  His 
nose  would  be  within  three  inches  of  the  back  of  the  driver 
of  the  runner  the  entire  mile. 

"He  was  never  nervous  nor  excited  or  anything  different 
on  his  exhibition  days  from  what  he  was  on  other  days.  If 
I  were  going  to  attempt  to  break  a  record  with  him  I  would 
try  to  get  a  fast  mile — two  minutes  or  better — two  days 
ahead  of  the  day  of  the  effort;  in  other  words  I  would  try 
to  get  a  fast  mile  on  Tuesday,  say,  if  he  was  to  go  on  Thurs- 
day and  not  later  than  Friday,  as  he  went  but  the  one  fast 
mile  in  his  exhibition.  He  invariably  would  give  me  a  great 
mile  under  that  system.  I  have  always  figured  that  an 
exhibition  horse  was  a  great  deal  like  a  thoroughbred  in  the 
matter  of  training.  It  is  a  question  of  speed.  But  they  lose 
it  in  a  very  few  hours  so  I  figured  that  a  horse's  best  effort 
would  be  made  with  one  day,  perhaps  two  days,  between  a 
fast  work  mile  and  a  fast  exhibition  mile  where  only  one  mile 


DAN    PATCH  117 

is  to  be  done  at  extreme  speed.  If,  after  a  fast  exhibition 
mile,  I  wanted  an  exceptional  mile  a  week  the  next  workout 
I  would  not  beat  2:12  with  him.  We  were  compelled  to  go 
many  fast  miles  with  him  and  load  him  on  the  cars  within 
three  or  four  hours  afterward.  Yet,  under  those  conditions 
he  would  come  right  out  and  go  another  great  mile.  All 
tracks  looked  alike  to  him  and  I  cannot  say  that  he  ever  went 
a  disappointing  mile.     He  kept  his  form  wonderfully  well. 

"In  training  him  during  the  winter  months  we  jogged  him 
five  miles  a  day  on  the  covered  track.  When  spring  came 
I  gave  him  three  double  headers,  in  about  three  minutes, 
every  week,  gradually  dropping  him  until  I  began  to  repeat 
him  twice  each  week,  dropping  him  two  or  three  seconds 
a  week  until  he  went  in  2:10.  I  also  gave  him  five  or  six  slow 
miles  on  workout  days. 

"With  one  exception  he  had  no  habits  that  needed  correc- 
tion. Often  in  scoring  him  when  I  would  pull  up  for  some 
reason  or  other  he  would  not  want  to  turn  to  the  left.  I 
fooled  along  with  him  for  a  while,  letting  him  have  his  own 
way,  but  got  vexed  one  day  and  hit  him  one  hard  rap,  straight- 
ened him  out  and  from  that  day  on  never  had  a  particle  of 
trouble  with  him  and  he  would  turn  anywhere.  I  had  him  at 
Indianapolis  once  and,  jogging  around  the  track  slowly  we 
came  to  the  gate  on  the  back  side  and  he  started  for  the  barn 
right  out  of  the  gate,  something  he  had  never  done  before  and 
I  could  not  stop  him.  I  did  nothing  to  him  but  in  due  time 
just  turned  him  around  and  took  him  back  to  the  track  as  I 
was  not  prepared  for  such  a  move  from  him  at  that  time. 

"He  was  a  w^onderful  feeder  at  all  times  and  a  wonderful 
doer.  I  never  knew  him,  except  in  case  of  illness  to  refuse 
a  meal.  And  he  was  sick  but  once — at  Topeka,  Kas.,  where 
he  was  ailing  for  a  week.  Sixty  days  from  the  date  of  that 
illness  he  beat  the  world's  record  at  Memphis.  The  week 
after  he  was  sick  he  was  walked  by  hand  for  a  week,  then 
jogged  one  mile  the  first  day  and  increased  gradually  up  to 
five  miles  and  so  on  until  I  was  able  to  work  him.  In  Septem- 
ber, about  six  weeks  after  that  severe  spell  he  gave  an 
exhibition  in  2:04  at  Springfield,  111.,  then  was  shipped  to 


Il8  THE    TWO-MINUTE    PACERS 

Memphis  where  he  got  two  week's  preparation  and  lowered 
the  world's  record.     He  was  then  shipped  to  the  home  farm. 

"He  was  infatuated  with  women.  He  would  give  careful 
attention  to  every  woman  who  visited  him  and  there  were 
many  thousands  of  them.  He  was  very  fond  of  Shetland 
ponies,  liked  to  get  right  close  up  to  every  one  he  ever  saw 
and  would  pull  his  groom  right  toward  one  and  look  him 
over  as  though  he  were  a  freak. 

"As  to  my  personal  opinion  of  the  speed  of  Dan  Patch 
I  want  to  say  that  I  do  not  believe  he  ever  went  a  mile  his 
best.  I  still  think  he  was  too  smart  for  me.  He  would  give 
me  a  great  effort,  perhaps  faster  than  any  other  horse  went 
but  I  still  think  it  was  not  his  dead  level  best.  I  laid  awake 
many  nights  figuring  how  to  get  him  to  go  to  his  limit  but 
the  problem  was  never  solved.  I  tried  everything  I  could 
think  of  but  was  not  successful. 

"I  used  a  Faber  sulky  weighing  about  thirty  pounds  with 
81  inch  shafts  and  very  high  as  he  had  tremendous  hock 
action.  He  wore  very  light  quarter  boots  and  very  light  knee 
boots  but  I  seldom  used  the  latter  except  on  half-mile  tracks 
and  he  hardly  ever  marked  them  and  then  very  lightly.  He 
wore  five  ounce  shoes  all  round  and  all  had  all-round,  sharp 
grabs.  The  length  of  all  his  toes  was  3'j/x  inches  with  54 
angle  in  front  and  56  angle  behind.  His  harness  was  as 
light  as  could  be  built,  with  open  bridle,  chin  strap  and  plain 
snaffle  bit. 

"We  would  start  our  exhibition  tours  in  August,  usually, 
and  wind  up  on  or  about  the  first  of  November  and  that  was 
the  program  for  seven  years.  He  paced,  in  that  time,  about 
seventy  miles  that  averaged  two-minutes  and  my  best  recol- 
lection is  that  I  drove  him  in  sixty-two  of  those  miles.  After 
he  was  once  in  form  a  mile  in  two  minutes  seemed  pretty 
comfortable  for  him.  He  gave  exhibitions  from  Boston  to 
California  and  kept  absolutely  sound  until  about  the  seventh 
year  and  then  we  began  to  see  a  break.  He  earned  in  the 
seven  years  we  had  him  about  $120,000  in  exhibitions  alone, 
and  that  with  incidental  earnings  on  International  products 
advertised  through  Dan  Patch,  made  him  a  pretty  cheap 
horse  for  Mr.  Savage.     All  through  those  seven  years  Dan 


Z 


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«; 

Q 


DAN    PATCH  121 

proved  himself  to  be  a  horse  of  wonderful  constitution  and 
with  a  disposition  the  very  best.  He  never  worried  or  fretted 
— everything  was  all  right  with  him. 

"Mr.  Savage  was  very  anxious  to  beat  the  world's  record 
at  home,  St.  Paul.  I  tried  to  discourage  him  as  the  track 
at  Hamline  had  never,  up  to  that  time,  been  a  record  break- 
ing track.  But  he  insisted  we  would  tiy,  so  we  made  all 
preparations  in  his  bookings  and  other  details  to  bring  him 
to  Hamline  to  try  for  his  life.  The  record  was  1:5514? 
held  by  him  and  made  the  previous  year,  1905.  The  Board 
of  the  Trotting  Register  had  barred  records  made  with  the 
runner  in  front  but  Mr.  Savage  thought  the  public  would 
be  pleased  with  a  phenomenal  mile  following  pace.  When 
the  day  for  the  trial  came  it  was  a  perfect  one.  The  track 
had  a  three  foot  grade  from  the  half-mile  pole  to  the  stretch 
so  we  planned  to  go  the  first  eighth  in  fifteen  seconds  and  the 
next  three  in  fourteen  seconds  each,  which  would  bring  us 
to  the  half-mile  pole  in  57  seconds;  we  figured  the  three- 
foot  grade  would  stop  Dan  one  second  if  we  could  make  it 
and  we  would  go  the  last  three-eighths  in  14  seconds  each. 
He  went  every  part  of  the  mile  exactly  as  we  had  figured  it 
and  finished  well  in  1 :55  the  fastest  mile  to  harness  in  his- 
tory. Had  it  been  on  a  track  like  Columbus  or  Lexington 
it  would  have  been  much  better.  My  recollection  is  that  the 
paid  admissions  that  day  to  the  Minnesota  State  Fair  were 
102,000.  The  big  crowd  surely  w^ent  wild  for  there  never 
had  been  a  world  record  made  over  any  track  before  in  that 
part  of  the  country. 

"We  gave  an  exhibition  at  Des  Moines  one  fall  at  the 
Iowa  State  Fair  and  as  we  went  around  the  track  the  crowd 
was  five  or  six  deep.  Near  the  quarter  pole  the  man  driving 
the  runner  in  front  asked  me  if  I  saw  the  woman  with  the 
green  umbrella  and  I  shouted  'y^^.'  The  next  trip  around 
the  weight  of  the  crowd  had  broken  down  the  fence  and  the 
woman  and  green  umbrella  were  out  on  the  track.  The 
runner  missed  her  but  I  brought  the  green  umbrella  to  the 
wire  in  the  spokes  of  the  sulky  wheel. 

"We  put  on  a  mile  at  the  half-mile  track  at  Oklahoma 
City   and   the   fair   association   offered   extra   money    if  we 


122  THE    TWO-MINUTE    PACERS 

beat  the  world's  record  for  the  double  oval,  which  was  then 
2:031/4-  I  looked  the  track  over  and  found  that  the  river 
had  flooded  it  the  previous  spring  and  made  up  my  mind 
we  could  not  beat  the  record  there.  Returning  to  my  hotel 
I  saw  in  the  window  of  an  enterprising  merchant  an  alligator 
grip  full  and  overflowing  with  one-dollar  bills,  a  huge  sign 
on  it  stating  it  would  be  given  to  the  driver  of  Dan  Patch  if 
he  beat  2:031/4.  Charley  Dean,  was  driving  the  runner  for 
me  at  the  time  of  the  mile  and  we  decided  to  go  the  first 
half  as  near  a  minute  as  possible  and  take  chances  on  the  rest 
of  it.  We  made  the  first  trip  round  in  a  minute  and  half  a 
second  but  the  dust  was  so  thick  we  could  hardly  see  where 
we  were  going.  In  fact  I  did  not  know  where  Dean  was 
except  when  I  would  feel  Dan's  nose  hit  him  in  the  back,  so 
I  drove  absolutely  by  that  sign.  Coming  to  the  lower  turn 
on  the  back  side  Dean  was  so  blinded  by  the  dust  that  he 
did  not  know  when  he  got  to  the  turn  and  went  clear  to  the 
outside  before  he  discovered  where  he  was.  But  that  let 
us  out  of  the  dust.  He  snatched  his  runner,  straightened 
him  up  and  got  him  back  to  the  pole,  I  did  the  same  with 
Dan,  who  went  to  a  break  but  recovered  quickly  and  we 
finished  the  mile;  the  time  was  2:03  and  the  record  was 
lowered. 

"After  the  performance  was  over  and  the  horses  cared 
for  we  started  for  our  hotel.  On  the  way  up  I  said  to  Dean 
that  it  would  be  a  grand  idea  to  look  in  that  enterprising 
merchant's  store  and  see  where  the  dollar  bills  and  the 
alligator  grip  were.  We  found  the  window  but  no  grip. 
Arriving  at  the  hotel  we  found  the  grip  lying  on  my  bed. 
I  delegated  Charlie  to  open  it  as  I  did  not  feel  I  could  stand 
the  shock  of  the  surprise.  He  opened  it  and  found  the  foxy 
merchant  had  removed  the  bills.     I  still  have  the  grip. 

"Perhaps  one  of  the  most  interesting  financial  incidents 
of  Dan's  career  developed  at  the  Indiana  State  Fair.  When 
we  were  dickering  for  the  booking  we  off^ered  to  go  one  mile 
for  $2,500  but  the  management  thought  that  was  too  much 
money  to  pay  one  horse  to  go  one  mile.  So  we  made  them 
the  proposition  to  take  60  per  cent,  of  all  over  their  average 
paid  Wednesday   attendance   for  the   previous  three  years. 


DAN    PATCH  123 

That  was  accepted  and  if  my  memory  is  not  at  fault  we 
were  paid  $7,800  for  that  mile. 

"Mr.  Savage  was  a  great  believer  in  Friday  and  thirteen 
and  if  any  time  he  could  book  Dan  for  Friday  or  for  the 
thirteenth  of  the  month  he  would  pass  over  all  other  offered 
days  and  dates.  He  told  me  he  had  been  uniformly  success- 
ful on  those  days.  One  time  when  Dan  was  in  his  prime  his 
owner  told  me  he  was  mailing  100,000  lithographs  of  him 
broadcast  in  the  United  States.  He  named  a  railroad  for 
him.  Dan  was  known  by  every  little  boy  wherever  he  went 
and  people  by  the  thousands  visited  his  stall.  There  was  no 
place  we  exhibited  him  that  he  did  not  increase  the  attendance 
immensely. 

"The  day  he  went  his  mile  at  Lexington  in  1 :55^/^  Mr. 
M.  E.  Sturgis,  now  dead  and  who  had  sold  Dan  to  Mr.  Savage 
asked  me  if  the  horse  was  for  sale.  I  told  him  I  thought 
not.  He  then  told  me  to  wire  Mr.  Savage  that  he  would 
give  him  three  times  what  he  paid  for  him.  The  offer  was 
courteously  declined.  Dan  made  money  for  eveiy  owner 
he  had  from  the  breeder  on  to  the  end.  Mr.  Dan  Messner, 
his  breeder,  sold  him  to  Mr.  Sturgis  for  $20,000;  Mr.  Sturgis 
sold  him  to  Mr.  Savage  for  $45,000  and  he  earned  in  exhi- 
bitions $120,000  for  Mr.  Savage,  to  say  nothing  of  the  way 
he  increased  his  owner's  business  and  that  increase  was 
phenomenal. 

"I  cannot  close  this  story  without  mentioning  the  way 
Dan  proved  his  gameness  to  me  in  two  performances  at 
Allentown,  Pa.,  over  the  half-mile  track  there.  It  was  a 
good  course  and  Dan  went  his  mile  to  sulky  in  2:01  then 
in  forty-five  minutes  I  brought  him  out  to  wagon  to  beat 
2:11  and  went  the  mile  in  2:05'^.  I  had  never  before 
started  him  to  wagon  on  a  half-mile  track  and  I  discovered 
right  away  that  he  hit  the  outside  wheel  going  round  the 
turns.  There  was  no  way  to  prevent  it  by  changing  the 
hitch  so  I  took  him  to  the  middle  of  the  track  and  put  a 
runner  on  each  side  of  him  and  he  went  the  mile  that  way. 

"Great  horses  must  have  great  care-takers.  I  doubt  if 
any  horse  ever  rose  to  real  greatness  who  was  not  blessed 
that  way.     And  I  want  to  say  that  Charles  Plummer,  who 


124  ^^^    TWO-MINUTE    PACERS 

took  care  of  this  great  horse  for  me  for  so  many  years,  was 
largely  responsible  for  his  many  wonderful  performances. 
He  was  ever  on  the  job,  took  wonderful  care  of  Dan  and  is 
entitled  to  great  credit  for  his  share  in  the  champion's  suc- 
cess. 

Mr.  Hersey  has  stated  that  Dan  Patch  paced  about  seventy 
different  miles  at  an  average  of  two  minutes  while  he  had 
charge  of  him  which  would  make  it  merely  superfluous  to 
enumerate  them  but  it  should  be  stated  that  aside  from  the 
1:55  mile  at  Hamline,  Harry  drove  the  horse  to  a  reduced 
record  of  1:551/4,  his  previous  record  having  been  l:561/j|^, 
and  that  he  set  many  track  records  that  still  stand  and  all 
of  them  close  to  or  below  two  minutes.  That  he  held  his 
record-breaking  form  through  all  those  seven  years,  or  at 
least  through  six  of  them  testifies  to  the  remarkable  stamina 
of  the  horse  not  only,  but  to  the  splendid  skill  of  his  trainer 
as  well.  It  will  be  recalled  that  Mr.  Hersey  says  it  was  not 
until  the  seventh  year  that  there  were  any  signs  of  a  break 
and  it  must  be  remembered  that  was  the  tenth  year  of  train- 
ing for  Dan. 

The  late  M.  E.  McHenry  gave  Dan  Patch  a  record  of 
1:561/4  and  in  the  course  of  the  year  1903  drove  him  eleven 
exliibition  miles  in  1:561/^  to  2:013/4  on  mile  tracks;  three 
on  half-mile  tracks  in  better  than  2:05;  gave  him  a  two- 
mile  record  of  4:17,  a  wagon  record  of  1:571/4  and  a  half- 
mile  record  to  wagon  of  56  seconds. 

Dan  Patch  died  in  1916,  his  owner,  Mr.  M.  W.  Savage, 
having  passed  away  the  previous  day.  Dan  was  by  Joe 
Patchen — Zelika  by  Wilkesberry. 


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The  race  may  not  be  always  to  the  suift 
But  if  the  sicift  have  courage  they  achieve. 

— Rowena  Sprague. 


AUDUBON   BOY 

Great  Racing  Pacer  of  1901-2 
Record  1:5914 

UDUBON  BOY  1 :5914  a  chestnut  horse  by  J.  J.  Audu- 
bon— Flaxey  by  Bourbon  Wilkes,  was  the  sensational 
stake  pacer  of  the  sensational  year  1901,  and  was 
trained  and  raced  for  the  Gatcomb-Hudson  partnership  by 
Mr.  Scott  Hudson,  then  of  Lexington,  Ky.,  and  now  one  of  the 
leading  business  men  of  Atlanta,  Ga.  Mr.  Hudson  did  not 
give  the  horse  his  best  record,  but  did  drive  him  in  all  his 
races  and  in  the  course  of  them  Audubon  Boy  took  a  record 
of  2:031/4.  After  the  partnership  was  dissolved  in  1902, 
Mr.  Gatcomb  retired  the  pacer  to  the  stud  and  in  1905  again 
put  him  in  training  with  a  view  to  lowering  his  record  and 
succeeded  in  his  effort,  driving  him  to  a  record  of  1:5914  ^t 
Readville,  Mass.,  September  22nd,  1905. 

When  the  big  crowd  at  Lexington  in  the  fall  of  1899  saw 
a  two-year-old  chestnut  colt  win  in  the  even  then  slow  time 
of  2:24,  little  note  was  made  of  him  and  it  is  altogether 
likely  that  nobody  expected  him  to  be,  two  years  later,  one  of 
the  most  talked-of  pacers  in  the  world.  He  was  staked  at 
some  western  meetings  and  at  many  Grand  Circuit  points, 
filled  all  of  his  engagements,  won  ten  races  and  found  but 
one  horse  that  could  beat  him  and  that  was  Shadow  Chimes, 
who  turned  the  trick  two  times,  one  of  the  victories  over  the 
Hudson-Catcomb  pacer  being  a  false  verdict.  Audubon  Boy 
retired  with  a  record  of  2:06  and  was,  of  course,  heralded  as 
a  coming  two-minute  pacer. 

In  1902  Audubon  Boy  was  started  in  six  races  and  made 
a  clean  sweep  of  his  engagements,  taking  his  record  at  Read- 


128  THE    TWO-MINUTE    PACERS 

ville,  Mass.,  August  23rcl,  of  2:031/4-  No  attempt  was  made 
that  year  to  give  him  a  faster  record  and  the  following  year 
found  him  retired  from  the  track  so  that  his  thousands  of 
admirers  who  believed  him  destined  for  two-minute  honors 
were  compelled  to  wait  two  years  before  they  were  able  to 
say  "I  told  you  so." 

Mr.  J.  Y.  Gatcomb,  who  had  become  sole  owner  of  Audu- 
bon boy  at  the  dissolution  of  the  partnership  with  Mr. 
Hudson,  gave  Audubon  Boy  his  opportunity  in  1905  and 
made  but  three  attempts  to  drive  him  into  the  list  of  two 
minute  pacers.  After  a  mile  in  2:00^/4  at  Syracuse,  N.  Y., 
on  September  15th,  he  took  the  horse  to  Readville  and  started 
him  on  September  22nd.  That  trip  was  a  successful  one 
for  Audubon  Boy  paced  a  nice  mile  in  1:591/4.  That  really 
closed  his  career  as  a  public  performer  and  he  was  retired 
to  the  stud  where,  with  limited  opportunities,  in  fact  one 
might  truthfully  say,  none  at  all,  he  demonstrated  that  he 
had  the  ability  to  sire  trotting  speed  of  a  high  order.  His 
1906  efforts  are  worthy  of  note  for  the  reason  that  he  paced 
a  mile  in  two  minutes  and  another  in  1:591/2,  making  three 
miles  in  two-minutes  or  better  to  his  credit. 

Mr.  James  Clark,  Assistant  Secretary  of  the  American 
Association  of  Trotting  Horse  Breeders,  and  who  was  for 
many  years  a  leading  shoer  on  the  Grand  Circuit,  furnishes 
the  only  available  information  concerning  the  shoeing  of 
Audubon  Boy.  He  wore  51/0  ounce  swedge  bar  shoes  with 
full  pad  in  front  and  4  ounce  outside  swedge  shoes  behind. 
His  front  toes  were  3'^  inches  with  a  48  degree  angle  and 
his  hind  toes  were  3^  inches  with  a  55  degree  angle.  He 
wore  no  extra  rigging  of  any  kind,  except,  possibly  at  times 
a  shadow  roll  and  never  wore  hopples. 

There  never  appeared  on  the  Grand  Circuit  a  more  coura- 
geous race  horse  and  many  of  his  victories  were  achieved 
in  the  face  of  most  formidable  odds.  His  stake  race  at 
Providence,  in  which  there  were  seventeen  starters  was  a 
case  well  in  point.  He  won  about  as  he  pleased  and  it  did 
not  seem  much  difference  to  him  whether  he  got  away  in 
good  position  or  bad — the  result  was  the  same.  He  was 
an  airy,  showy  horse  in  action  and  one  of  his  infirmities, 


AUDUBON    BOY  I 29 

indeed  the  only  one  that  is  recalled,  was  curbs  and  they  in 
combination  with  an  extra  hard  track  were  the  cause  of  one 
of  the  only  two  defeats  in  races  he  ever  sustained. 

It  is  safe  to  say  that  had  he  been  prepared  for  the  season 
of  1904  and  had  anything  like  an  even  break  in  luck,  he 
would  have  taken  a  record  far  below  the  one  with  which 
he  finally  retired.  But  he  was  one  of  the  turf  idols  of  his 
day  and  the  list  of  two-minute  pacers  is  graced  by  his  pres- 
ence. 

Mr.  R.  Scott  Hudson,  then  of  Lexington,  Ky.,  now  of 
Atlanta,  Ga.,  said  of  Audubon  Boy:  "When  I  arranged  with 
Mr.  E.  P.  Weathers  to  train  and  race  this  pacer  I  outlined 
all  my  plans  for  him,  namely,  to  give  the  colt  slow  work,  and 
very  little  fast  work  during  1900  and  turn  him  out  for  his 
1901  campaign  early.  He  showed  me  in  his  work  in  his 
three-year-old  form  that  he  was,  beyond  doubt,  the  grandest 
horse  I  had  yet  handled.  He  could  do  things  then  that 
would  make  a  man  want  to  buy  a  new  watch  and  believe 
some  one  had  changed  the  quarter  poles,  and  he  did  it  all 
well  within  himself.  I  gave  him  but  few  miles  better  than 
2:20  but  then  I  made  up  my  mind  to  stake  him  every  place 
along  the  line  in  1901.  This  I  did.  He  was  taken  up  Janu- 
ary 1,  1901,  and  his  road  work  began  and  a  lot  of  it  he  got. 
When  our  track  opened  and  the  weather  settled  I  began  slow 
miles  and  gave  him  them  in  abundance.  June  1st  a  mile  in 
2:22^  was  his  best.  But  he  could  do  the  trick  if  I  would 
only  let  him.  I  gave  him  plenty  more  slow  heats  in  June 
with  some  few  miles  in  2:15,  one  in  2:13'%|^  and  no  quarter 
better  than  311  {>. 

"I  won  with  him  at  Tiffin,  best  time  2:1514,  laid  up  a 
week  at  Cleveland  and  not  a  mile  better  than  2:18^,  yet  won 
with  him  there  in  2:09'Y^.  At  Columbus,  with  no  miles 
better  than  2:30  between  races,  he  won  in  2:081/).  On  down 
the  line  with  no  work  at  all  save  a  little  to  blow  him  out  the 
day  before  a  race  and  still  he  won.  He  took  the  prevailing 
disease  and  I  raced  him  just  the  same. 

"At  Boston  and  Providence,  when  most  horses  would  have 
been  in  the  barn,  he  was  raced  and  how  he  tried  and  won, 
no  one  who  was  there  will  soon  forget. 


130  THE    TWO-MINUTE    PACERS 

"I  give  myself  but  little  credit  for  the  showing  of  this 
wonderful  horse.  He  was  a  natural  born  race  horse  about 
the  only  one  I  have  had  out  of  the  hundreds  I  have  handled. 
His  speed  is  marvelous  and  looks  to  have  no  limit.  He  has 
never  been  beaten  when  half  in  form.  *  *  *  He  started 
in  twelve  races  his  1901  campaign,  winning  ten  first  and  two 
seconds  and  $19,650." 

Audubon  Boy  was  kept  at  North  Randall  race  track  for 
several  years  until  in  the  early  winter  of  1921-2  Mr.  Al 
Pennock  purchased  him  and  through  an  arrangement  made 
with  Mrs.  Jessie  W.  Nims,  owner  of  Ridge  Lawn  Farm, 
Bellevue,  Ohio,  the  one-time  Grand  Circuit  star  will  spend 
his  last  days  there,  in  the  midst  of  peace  and  plenty. 

Audubon  Boy  was  bred  in  Kentucky  by  Mr.  E.  P. 
Weathers  and  the  Patchen  Wilkes  Stock  Farm,  that  establish- 
ment owning  his  sire  and  Mr.  Weathers  being  the  owner  of 
his  dam,  the  famous  Flaxey. 


2 

Q 
W 

U 
»-] 

-< 

X 


CO 


Thou  art  so  swift,  yet  easy  curbed 
So  gentle,  yet  so  free. 

-  — Caroline  Newton. 


MINOR   HEIR 

Champion  Green  Pacer  (1:5914) 
Record  1:581/9 

INOR  HEIR  had  no  bad  manners  to  correct,  no  faulty 
gait  to  worry  about  and  I  do  not  claim  any  credit  for 
his  developement — he  was  born,  not  made,  says  Mr. 
Charles  E.  Dean,  of  Palatine,  111.,  the  highly  capable  trainer 
who  introduced  this  handsome  son  of  Heir  at  Law  to  the 
public  and  drove  him  to  membership  in  the  list  of  two-minute 
performers. 

For  this  volume  Mr.  Dean  has  written  a  most  entertaining 
story  of  the  great  Illinois-bred  pacer  and  it  is  herewith  pre- 
sented : 

"Minor  Heir  was  bred  by  Mr.  J.  B.  Ewing,  of  Roseville, 
111.,  and  was  foaled  June  1st,  1902.  Nothing  was  done 
with  him  until  the  Spring  he  was  two  years  old  when  he  was 
broken  to  harness  by  his  owner.  He  was  jogged  on  the  road 
the  balance  of  that  season  but  was  given  no  training.  At 
that  time  he  was  mixed-gaited,  would  trot  or  pace  but  showed 
no  marked  speed  at  either  gait.  He  was  a  stout,  hardy  colt 
and  the  next  Spring  when  he  was  three,  Mr.  Ewing  used  him 
with  another  horse  on  the  mail  route  and  during  the  Summer 
did  some  light  livery  work  with  him.  Mr.  Ewing  ran  a 
small  livery  and  sale  stable  at  that  time. 

"That  fall  Minor  Heir  was  sent  to  Mr.  D.  Patten,  at  Win- 
field,  la.,  one  of  the  leading  trainers  of  that  section.  Before 
the  season  was  over  he  had  worked  the  colt  a  mile  in  2:14^ 
at  the  pace  and  in  the  fall  returned  him  to  his  owner  who,  not 
thinking  very  highly  of  him  offered  him  for  sale  at  a  very 
modest  price  but  did  not  succeed  in  selling  him.     I  met  Mr. 


134  ^^^    TWO-MINUTE    PACERS 

Ewing  in  Chicago  the  following  winter  and  made  arrange- 
ments with  him  to  train  the  colt  the  next  season.  He  said  he 
was  anxious  to  send  him  up  to  me  to  find  out  whether  the 
youngster  was  of  any  account. 

"Minor  Heir  reached  my  place  July  5th,  1907  and  I  want 
to  say  that  I  was  never  before  so  favorably  impressed  by  a 
horse  as  I  was  by  this  one.  I  considered  him  the  best  horse 
I  ever  saw.  He  was  just  the  right  size,  fifteen  hands  and 
three-quarters  of  an  inch;  weighed  about  950  pounds  and 
full  made  all  over. 

"The  day  after  he  arrived  I  had  my  first  ride  behind  him 
and  I  made  up  my  mind,  then  and  there,  that  he  was  a  two- 
minute  pacer  and  that  was  after  he  had  only  gone  a  mile  in 
three  minutes  with  the  last  quarter  in  but  forty  seconds. 
I  never  trained  another  horse  in  my  life  that  I  had  so  much 
confidence  in  or  felt  so  sure  of.  He  was  the  easiest  horse 
to  train  that  I  have  ever  had  in  my  stable;  he  had  no  bad 
manners  to  correct,  no  faulty  gait  to  worry  about  and  I  do 
not  claim  any  credit  for  his  developement.  He  was  born, 
not  made. 

"He  wore  six  ounce  plain  shoes  in  front  with  small  jar 
calks  at  the  heel  and  the  toes  were  3%  inches.  Behind  he 
wore  four  ounce  shoes  with  small  heel  calks  and  the  toes 
were  3I/2  inches.  He  wore  a  pair  of  light  quarter  and  tendon 
boots  in  front  and  coronet  boots  behind.  His  harness  was 
plain,  with  blind  bridle,  snaffle  bit  and  overcheck  bit  and  no 
extra  rigging  of  any  kind.  He  carried  his  head  rather  low 
and  straight  as  an  arrow.  He  had  a  splendid  mouth  but 
very  sensitive. 

"As  it  was  late  in  the  season  when  he  was  shipped  to  me 
I  decided  it  was  not  good  policy  to  attempt  to  race  him  that 
year  so  I  took  plenty  of  time  for  his  education.  With  very 
moderate  training  he  improved  rapidly.  Mr.  Ewing  came 
to  see  him  about  the  middle  of  August  and  saw  him  work 
a  mile  in  2:25  with  the  last  quarter  in  Sl^/o  seconds  over 
our  half  mile  track  and  was  well  pleased  with  him.  But 
he  was  anxious  to  sell  him  and  I  was  just  as  anxious  for  him 
to  keep  him  and  assured  him  I  was  confident  he  would  pace 
a  mile  in  two-minutes  or  better  the  following  year  and,  as 


MINOR    HEIR  135 

he  had  bred  him  and  raised  him  I  desired  very  much  that 
he  reap  the  benefit.  He  was  not  to  be  convinced,  however, 
as  he  felt  that  the  horse  was  getting  too  valuable  for  him  to 
own.  That  fall  I  sold  him  for  Mr.  Ewing  to  Mr.  P.  C.  Isaacs, 
of  Johnstown,  Pa.,  one  of  my  patrons,  and  that  gentleman 
owned  him  until  he  was  sold  to  Mr.  M.  W.  Savage. 

"The  next  spring  after  Mr.  Isaacs  bought  him  Minor 
Heir  suffered  a  severe  attack  of  influenza  from  which  he 
did  not  fully  recover  until  about  the  first  of  April.  His 
sickness  left  him  poor  and  weak  and  for  a  time  it  looked 
as  though  we  could  not  possibly  get  him  to  the  races  that 
year.  His  recovery,  however,  was  unexpectedly  rapid  and 
by  the  first  of  May  he  was  working  miles  in  three  minutes. 
Most  of  his  work  consisted  of  slow  repeats  with  very  little 
brush  work.  I  never  jogged  him  more  than  three  miles  a 
day,  winter  or  summer.  On  the  first  of  June  he  stepped  his 
first  real  mile  of  the  training  season,  in  2:30  and  I  did  not 
beat  2:25  with  him  until  June  15th,  on  which  date  he  paced 
a  mile  in  2:15.  I  did  not  go  another  good  mile  with  him 
until  the  latter  part  of  June,  just  before  shipping  to  Peoria, 
111.,  for  the  opening  of  the  Great  Western  Circuit  and  that 
mile,  still  over  our  half  mile  track,  was  in  2:08-^,  last  half 
in  1 :03  and  with  perfect  ease.  This  was  the  only  fast  mile 
he  got  during  the  entire  training  season. 

"When  we  left  home  he  had  regained  all  his  flesh,  was 
big  and  strong  and  ready  to  race.  He  was  quite  fortunate 
in  one  respect  and  that  was  in  having  a  great  caretaker  in 
Robert  Bradley  ('Old  Bob')  who  came  with  him  when  Mr. 
Ewing  shipped  him  to  me  from  Roseville.  'Old  Bob'  cared 
for  Minor  Heir  during  the  two  seasons  I  had  him  and  to  his 
faithful  attention  and  capable  work  much  of  the  success  of 
the  horse  should  be  credited.  He  was  with  him  constantly 
night  and  day  and  seemed  to  never  tire  of  work  or  watching. 

"During  the  racing  season.  Minor  Heir  required  very 
little  work  between  his  engagements  and  was  never  worked 
faster  than  2:25.  What  he  did  during  that  season  is  history 
and  I  do  not  think  it  is  necessary  for  me  to  go  into  the  details 
regarding  his  races.  He  was  a  horse  with  a  marvelous  flight 
of  speed.     While  I  never  'set  him  down'  to  see  how  fast  he 


136  THE    TWO-MINUTE    PACERS 

could  pace  a  quarter  I  got  a  sample  of  what  he  could  do  one 
day  at  Columbus.  At  the  end  of  a  2:10  mile  he  paced  the 
quarter  in  27^  seconds.  With  conditions  favorable,  if  he  had 
been  asked  for  a  supreme  effort  I  am  confident  he  could 
have  stepped  a  quarter  a  full  second  faster. 

"He  was  a  tough,  rugged  horse,  a  great  feeder  and  had 
the  sweetest,  mildest  disposition  I  ever  saw  in  a  stallion. 

"Some  of  the  critics  attributed  the  breaks  Minor  Heir 
made  to  cross-firing  but  in  that  they  were  mistaken  as  he 
was  an  exceptionally  steady-going  pacer  and  I  remember  of 
his  making  but  three  or  four  breaks  during  the  two  years 
I  handled  him.  In  his  race  at  Terre  Haute  he  made  his  first 
break  in  the  third  heat.  After  he  had  won  the  first  and 
second  heats  in  2:01^,  2:01  so  easily  I  decided  to  let 
him  step  the  third  heat  somewhere  near  his  limit.  When 
he  got  to  the  half  he  seemed  to  be  going  very  easy  but  as 
there  was  nothing  near  him  he  let  go  of  the  bit  just  a  little 
and  he  did  the  same  thing  in  the  fourth  heat  and  in  each 
instance  went  to  a  break.  The  only  way  I  could  figure  out  the 
cause  of  his  breaking  was  that  his  shoes  were  worn  thin 
and  light.  I  weighed  them  the  next  day  and  found  they 
weighed  but  5^  ounces.  That  made  it  necessary  to  take  a 
slight  hold  of  him  to  keep  him  steady.  In  the  third  and 
fourth  heats  when  there  was  nothing  near  him  he  did  not 
take  hold  enough  to  keep  him  balanced.  In  the  fifth  heat 
he  was  as  steady  as  a  clock.  I  kept  him  in  behind  until  the 
finish;  when  in  that  position  he  was  up  on  the  bit  all  the 
time  and  did  not  act  as  though  he  could  break.  The  last 
break  I  ever  knew  him  to  make  was  in  the  Chamber  of  Com- 
merce race  two  weeks  later.  He  was  going  true  and  steady 
at  the  time  and  when  just  past  the  three-quarter  pole  jumped 
over  a  large  wet  spot  in  the  track.  There  is  no  question  in 
my  mind  but  that  with  a  horse  right  at  him  all  the  way  he 
would  have  paced  well  below  two  minutes  in  his  third  mile 
at  Terre  Haute.  I  merely  mention  these  facts  to  correct  the 
false  impression  some  people  have  that  his  breaks  were  caused 
by  cross-firing. 

"There  is  an  old  saying,  'the  world  loves  a  winner'  and 
this  was  plainly  shown  in  the  Terre  Haute  race.     After  the 


MINOR    HEIR  137 

first  and  second  heats  the  crowd  around  Minor  Heir's  stall 
was  so  large  we  could  hardly  get  him  in  or  out  of  the  door. 
It  seemed  that  every  one  on  the  grounds  followed  him  to  the 
stable.  After  the  third  and  fourth  heats  he  was  deserted 
by  every  one  but  'Old  Bob'  and  his  assistant  caretaker.  I 
asked  the  boys  what  had  become  of  the  crowds.  They 
pointed  over  to  The  Eel's  stable  and  there  they  were,  battling 
for  a  sight  of  The  Eel.  After  the  fifth  heat  the  crowd  was 
back  with  us  and  larger  than  ever. 

"It  is  too  bad  The  Eel  could  not  have  lived,  for  he  was 
certainly  a  very  great  horse  and  one  of  the  gamest  and  best 
race  horses  I  ever  knew.  Had  he  lived  there  certainly  would 
have  been  another  two-minute  pacer." 

As  Mr.  Dean  says,  Minor  Heir  was  sold  to  Mr.  Savage 
by  Mr.  Isaacs  so  was  raced  but  a  single  year  by  the  Palatine 
trainer.  Of  Minor  Heir,  Mr.  Harry  Hersey,  trainer  of  the 
horses  owned  by  Mr.  Savage,  has  this  to  say  in  a  letter  written 
to  the  publisher  of  this  volume: 

"Another  purchase  of  my  employer  to  fill  a  combination 
we  had  in  view  was  Minor  Heir  and  he  proved  to  be  one  of 
the  greatest  little  pacers  in  the  land.  His  manners  were  the 
best;  he  was  a  good  doer,  cheerful,  everything  that  a  trainer 
could  desire;  tried  every  time  his  best  and  could  go  about 
as  far  as  anybody's  horse. 

"One  special  event  I  recall  was  his  exhibition  at  Indian- 
apolis, at  the  State  Fair  where  he  raced  with  three  other 
horses  and  won  in  1 :59,  started  back  with  the  same  horses 
on  Wednesday  racing  in  2:00%^,  started  again  on  Friday 
and  lowered  his  record  to  l:58l/>,  then  was  put  on  the  cars 
that  night  and  shipped  to  the  Kentucky  State  Fair  at  Louis- 
ville where  he  gave  an  exhibition  on  Saturday,  a  half  over 
the  half-mile  track  in  a  minute.  I  call  that  a  very  good 
week's  work.  He  continued  on  South  that  fall  and  paced 
the  Dallas,  Texas,  mile  track  in  1:591/4,  a  mark  that  will 
stand  there  for  some  time. 

"He  was  a  most  lovable  horse,  clever  in  and  out  of  the 
stall,  a  good  shipper  and  if  he  had  had  the  same  opportunities 
that  Dan  Patch  had — days  and  tracks  picked  for  him  and 


138  THE    TWO-MINUTE    PACERS 

not  asked  to  go  two  or  three  exhibitions  a  week,  I  believe 
his  record  would  have  been  materially  reduced. 

"Charles  Dean  brought  out  this  great  little  horse  and 
I  am  depending  on  him  to  give  him  his  just  dues." 

It  is  left  to  Mr.  Hersey  to  decide  whether  Mr.  Dean  has 
fully  justified  his  expectations  and  it  is  almost  certain  that 
he  will  say  the  work  was  well  done,  despite  the  modesty  of 
the  man  from  Palatine  who  never  was  easily  induced  to 
toot  his  own  horn  and  even  then  would  not  do  it  very  loudly. 
The  evidence  of  two  men  who  loved  him  is  that  Minor  Heir 
was  one  of  the  world's  greatest  pacers  and  that  evidence  is 
also  by  the  records.  This  pacer  is,  so  far,  the  only  one  that 
has  started  the  season  as  a  green  horse  and  ended  it  with  a 
time  record  of  1:59^  and  a  race  record  of  2:00^. 

There  are  others  who  testify  to  the  impressive  manner 
and  lovable  disposition  of  this  champion.  One  of  them 
is  the  noted  turf  writer  "Volunteer,"  who  wrote  of  him  some 
three  years  ago,  when  Minor  Heir  and  The  Eel,  the  two  great 
rivals  of  the  1907  season  had  become  but  memories,  and 
feelingly  said: 

"If  I  had  to  select  one  among  them  all"  (the  great  pacers 
of  that  period)  "to  remember  forever  it  would  be  him" 
(Minor  Heir).  "I  do  not  propose  to  string  together  all  my 
reasons  for  holding  this  opinion.  But  I  will  mention  one  or 
two.  For  instance,  he  is  the  only  pacer  in  history  that  began 
the  season  without  a  record  of  any  sort  and  ended  it  in  the 
two-minute  list.  He  was  the  first  horse  to  do  a  mile  in  two- 
minutes  flat,  in  actual  contest  and  the  first  to  beat  two-minutes 
in  one.  He  was  an  exquisite  individual  and  one  of  the 
most  lovable  horses  I  ever  came  in  contact  with.  *  *  * 
Few  people  have  ever  known  or  realized  how  superlatively 
great  a  horse  was  this  son  of  Heir-at-Law  and  Kitty  Clover. 
*  *  *  He  was  a  horse  that  you  could  not  become  fa- 
miliar with  and  not  love  for  he  was  as  sweet-tempered  as  a 
mare,  without  trick  or  fault  and  apparently  unaware  of  his 
greatness." 


^ 


in 


< 
o 
o 

-*; 


Never  the  battle  raged  hottest,  but  in  it 
Neither  the  last  nor  the  faintest  was  he. 

— Edward  E.  Bowen. 


FRANK   BOGASH,   JR. 

Champion  Pacing  Gelding 
Record  1:591/4 

RANK  BOGASH,  Jr.,  1:5914,  holds  the  world's  rec- 
ord for  a  pacing  gelding  and  has  the  further  distinc- 
tion of  being  the  fastest  pacer  yet  bred  in  Canada  and 
one  of  the  only  two  that  the  country  has  yet  produced.  It 
might  be  added  that  he  is  one  of  three  two-minute  pacers  that 
carried  the  hobbles  as  part  of  his  racing  equipment  and  he  is 
also  the  fastest  of  that  trio,  the  others  being  Prince  Alert 
1 :59l/2  and  Louie  Gratton  2:00,  the  latter  also  Canadian  bred 
and  the  fastest  mare  that  Dominion  has  produced. 

The  best  record  of  this  brown  gelding  is,  to  an  extent, 
an  index  to  his  ability.  But  that  is  all  for  he  was  a  real 
warrior  on  the  race  track  and  his  prowess  is  proved  by  his 
winnings  in  1913,  when  he  had  to  his  credit  the  always 
goodly  sum  of  $23,325.  One  writer  on  turf  topics  gives 
this  as  his  opinion  of  the  Canadian  gelding:  ''When  one 
considers  the  number  of  his  starts  and  the  amount  of  money 
he  won  in  his  1913  campaign  and  then  weighs  the  quality 
of  the  opposition  he  encountered,  the  conviction  is  necessarily 
arrived  at  that  no  more  meritorious  campaign  was  ever 
accomplished." 

Tommy  Murphy,  who  campaigned  this  good  gelding  on 
the  Grand  Circuit  in  1913  and  1914,  said  of  him  recently: 
''I  would  like  nothing  better  than  to  have  Frank  Bogash,  Jr., 
back  again  with  the  same  record  he  had  when  I  got  him. 
He  would  not  only  be  a  factor  in  his  races  but  there  would 
have  to  be  a  whole  lot  better  material  in  sight  than  there  is 


142  THE    TWO-MINUTE    PACERS 

now  if  he  failed  to  repeat.  He  was  a  great  little  race-horse 
and  the  speed  he  had  when  I  raced  him  would  get  just  as 
much  money  now  as  it  got  him  then  and  maybe  more.  He 
was  never  an  exhibition  horse.  His  business  was  to  get  the 
money  out  of  purses  and  stakes  and  the  records  show  that 
he  won  his  share  and  some  in  addition." 

The  Canadian  champion  made  his  first  public  appear- 
ance during  the  racing  season  of  1912,  when  he  was  a  seven- 
year-old  and  in  its  course  he  started  in  thirteen  races  and, 
while  the  number  was  unlucky  for  his  opponents  it  was 
anything  else  for  him  as  he  won  every  start  and  the  total  of 
his  winnings  reached  to  a  comfortable  sum,  $4,000,  and 
more,  which  it  must  be  conceded  was  quite  imposing  for  a 
half-mile  track  campaign. 

It  naturally  followed  that  a  campaign  of  that  kind 
would  attract  the  attention  of  those  looking  for  Grand  Cir- 
cuit material  and  there  were  many  who  secured  the  price 
and  opened  negotiations.  Thomas  W.  Murphy  was  the  one 
whose  offer  was  accepted  and  the  racing  season  of  1913 
found  the  brown  gelding's  name  in  all  the  Grand  Circuit  stake 
books.  He  met  formidable  opposition  from  the  opening 
meeting  at  North  Randall  and  in  his  first  three  races  was 
beaten  by  Del  Rey  and  in  his  next  two  Leata  J.  defeated 
him.  Nothing  daunted,  for  there  never  lived  a  gamer  pacer, 
he  kept  right  on  trying.  His  first  victory  on  the  Grand  Circuit 
was  scored  in  the  Chamber  of  Commerce  purse  at  Detroit, 
and  he  took  with  it  a  record  of  2:0314-  That  race  opened 
the  eyes  of  the  circuit  followers  to  the  fact  that  a  new  pac- 
ing star  had  made  his  appearance  and  that  from  that  time 
on  he  would  most  likely  be  the  commanding  figure  among  the 
fast  pacers  of  the  year.  And  he  was  all  that  and  there  was 
no  question  about  it,  for  he  won  nine  out  of  the  ten  starts  he 
made  after  the  Detroit  race  and  the  California  mare,  Leata 
J.,  who  had  beaten  him  twice  earlier  in  the  season,  was  the 
only  one  to  score  an  additional  victory  over  him. 

That  year  he  reduced  his  record  to  2:01'^  in  the  free- 
for-all  pace  at  Lexington  and  that  ended  his  campaign  for  the 
year.  It  was  in  this  trip  through  the  Grand  Circuit  that  his 
winnings  passed  the  $23,000  mark. 


FRANK    BOGASH,    JR.  1 43 

Evidently  the  strenuous  campaign  he  had  made  during 
the  year  1913  had  no  appreciahle  ill  effect  on  the  Canadian 
for  he  was  never  better  than  in  1914,  and  in  the  course  of  the 
season,  racing  in  the  free-for-all  division  all  the  time  he  won 
eight  races  out  of  his  total  of  ten  starts  and  lowered  his 
record  to  1:59^4  i^^  ^^^^  second  heat  of  his  race  at  Detroit, 
making  him  the  world's  champion  pacing  gelding,  an  honor 
which  has  not  yet  been  wrested  from  him.  It  took  a  pacer 
of  the  calibre  of  Directum  I  to  defeat  him,  and  Flower 
Direct,  then  in  her  prime,  turned  the  trick  once.  But  the 
pair  only  succeeded  in  administering  two  defeats. 

All  through  the  year  he  retained  his  good  form  and  added 
to  his  reputation  though  his  winnings  did  not  begin  to  com- 
pare with  those  of  the  previous  year,  the  purses  offered  by 
more  important  tracks  for  free-for-all  pacers  not  amounting 
to  any  great  sum.  Yet  Frank  Bogash,  Jr.,  was  returned  the 
winner  of  nearly  $9,000,  which  l^rought  his  total  for  the 
two  Grand  Circuit  campaigns  to  more  than  $32,000.  Few 
pacers  have  ever  done  better  and  it  was  with  deep  regret 
that  the  regulars  on  the  Grand  Circuit  received  the  announce- 
ment that  one  of  their  greatest  favorites  had  handed  in  his 
resignation  and  would  go  to  the  "minors."  He  made  but 
one  start  in  select  society  in  1915  and  that  was  at  the  Mon- 
treal Grand  Circuit  meeting,  where  he  won  the  free-for-all. 
That  indeed  was  his  only  race  of  the  year  and  he  next  ap- 
peared among  the  free-for-all  pacers  on  the  half-mile  tracks. 

That  Mr.  Murphy  is  right  in  his  estimate  of  Frank  Bo- 
gash, Jr.,  is  evidenced  by  the  fact  that  the  gelding  in  the 
four  seasons  he  was  raced  before  being  sent  back  to  the  minor 
tracks,  he  started  in  forty  races,  of  which  he  won  thirty-two, 
was  second  in  seven  and  third  in  the  other.  It  will  thus 
be  seen  that  Frank  Bogash,  Jr.,  as  already  stated,  was  out 
for  business  during  his  entire  career  and  was  never  keyed 
up  for  any  sort  of  assault  on  the  records.  His  world  record 
is  a  race  record.  While  there  is  never  any  great  amount  of 
enthusiasm  over  the  hobbled  pacer,  it  can  be  said  for  this 
gelding  that  he  had  a  great  following,  admirers  who  never 
looked  at  his  hobbles,  but  did  take  keen  delight  in  seeing  him 
lead  the  field  home  in  a  series  of  heats  in  which  the  time 


144  THE    TWO-MINUTE    PACERS 

was  exceptionally  fast  and  would  not  be  considered  any- 
thing else  even  in  these  days  of  extreme  speed. 

He  was  one  of  the  nicest  horse  to  have  about  that  ever 
was  raced,  is  the  testimony  of  those  who  had  the  care  of  him. 
The  boys  call  him  a  "good  doer"  and  that  is  about  as  highly 
complimentary  as  anything  they  can  say  about  any  horse. 
If  he  is  a  good  doer  and  feeder  the  rest  is  comparatively  easy. 

His  training  was  just  about  the  same,  we  are  told,  as 
would  be  given  any  other  sound  horse,  to  fit  him  for  a  long 
campaign  where  the  time  was  certain  to  be  fast.  His  oddi- 
ties, if  any  he  had,  have  been  forgotten  but  there  is  no  record 
of  any  such. 

He  wore  most  of  the  rigging  that  goes  with  the  hobbled 
pacer  and  that,  of  course,  included  knee  boots,  without  which, 
one  turf  writer  avers,  there  would  be  no  successful  pacers 
in  hobbles.  Be  that  as  it  may,  Frank  Bogash,  Jr.,  carved 
his  name  on  the  wall  in  the  hall  of  pacing  fame  and  for  that 
reason  his  hobbles  and  his  frailties,  if,  indeed,  he  had  any, 
may  be  forgotten. 

This  pacer  was  bred  by  E.  C.  Warner,  Sand  Hill,  Quebec, 
and  was  sired  by  the  former  Indiana  pacer,  Frank  Bogash 
2:03'*^  and  his  dam  was  Phyllis  Stanford  by  Stanford. 


> 
< 


00 


^ 


On  came  the  ichirluind — like  the  last 
But  fiercest  sweep  of  tempest  blast. 

— Sir   Walter  Scott. 


WILLIAM 

Champion  Four- Year-Old  Pacer  (2-00) 
Record  liSSl/o 

ILLIAM  1 :58l/o,  was  the  king  of  racing  pacers  in 
1915,  and  W.  W.  Marvin,  of  Lafayette,  Ind.,  who 
trained  him  and  drove  him  in  all  his  races,  says  in 
a  letter  written  for  this  volume  under  date  of  February  1st, 
1922:  "I  do  not  know  the  limit  of  his  speed  on  August  16, 
1915,  the  day  he  took  his  record  at  North  Randall  in  the 
race  against  Directum  I.,  but  I  do  know  that  no  horse  in  the 
world  had  a  chance  to  beat  William  that  year."  There  is 
no  room  for  even  the  slightest  doubt  that  in  the  event  spoken 
of,  Mr.  Marvin  could  have  driven  his  great  pacer  at  least 
one  second  faster  in  each  mile  and  there  was  almost  universal 
regret  that  he  did  not  at  least  beat  two  minutes  in  the  second 
heat,  for  after  he  had  Directum  I  soundly  beaten  he  was 
allowed  to  take  it  easy  the  rest  of  the  way.  The  miles  were 
paced  in  1:58^/2,  2:00.  It  is  possible  that  it  was  understood 
that  no  matter  which  horse  was  the  best  in  any  of  their  races 
the  winner  was  not  to  make  the  loser  look  cheap.  It  is  some- 
what odd,  to  be  sure,  that  any  one  should  say,  after  a  horse 
had  gone  two  race  miles  in  two  minutes  or  better,  that  he 
could  have  done  better  in  both.  But  that  is  precisely  what 
everybody  thought  who  saw  the  race.  Mr.  Marvin  was  not 
known  to  express  his  opinion  about  it. 

The  letter  Mr.  Marvin  sends  for  use  in  this  publication, 
an  extract  from  which  is  given  above,  is  a  most  interesting 
and  entertaining  document  and  is  as  follows: 

''William  came  to  my  stable  in  September  of  the  year 
1912,  when  he  was  two  years  old  and  did  not  leave  it  until 
he  was  sold  to  Mr.  C.  K.  G.  Billings  in  late  August,  1915. 


148  THE    TWO-MINUTE    PACERS 

"He  had  not  been  with  us  very  long  until  I  discovered 
that  he  was  a  colt  quite  different  from  all  the  others  ever 
trained  by  me.  He  had  a  will  of  his  own  and  was  very 
determined  in  carrying  out  what  he  undertook  to  do.  And 
yet  he  was  kind,  liked  children,  cats  and  our  old  dog,  and 
would  spend  much  time  with  them  if  given  a  chance.  But 
he  would  not  stand  punishment  nor  rough  treatment  of  any 
kind. 

"I  spent  seven  years  on  horseback  on  the  prairie  and 
during  that  time  rode  many  horses,  but  when  William  took 
a  notion  he  could  put  to  flight  any  broncho  I  ever  saw;  could 
jump  farther  and  higher  and  show  you  that  he  had  a  way 
of  his  own. 

"After  trying  to  drive  him  to  do  things  he  did  not  want 
to  do  he  most  always  won  and  I  said  'we  will  train  your  way 
awhile  and  see  if  we  will  be  better  friends.' 

"The  road  running  past  our  track  at  Lafayette  runs  east 
and  west.  If  William  wanted  to  go  east  he  went  east  and  if 
{le  wanted  to  go  west  he  went  west.  He  did  not  like  to  go 
over  the  same  road  often  and  he  has  been  over  every  road 
and  by-road  near  his  home.  I  also  discovered  that  there  were 
very  few  men  about  the  barn  he  cared  for.  But  there  was  a 
young  man  by  the  name  of  Frank  Mackessy  who  said  to  me 
one  day:  'I  like  this  colt.'  I  found  him  much  around  the 
colt  and  one  day,  after  watching  them  I  said  to  Frank:  'He 
seems  to  like  you.  I  believe  he  will  be  a  great  horse  some 
day  if  we  manage  him  the  proper  way.  You  take  him.' 
So  Frank  cared  for  William  and  I  trained  him.  For  three 
years  no  one  else  was  ever  up  behind  him  except  Mr.  W.  J. 
Andrews  whom  I  asked  to  train  him  a  mile  for  me  one  day 
at  North  Randall  so  that  I  might  see  him  while  he  was  going 
fast.  Mr.  Andrews  said  he  would  be  pleased  to  drive  the 
mile  and  asked  how  fast  he  should  go.  I  told  him  a  mile  in 
2:07  or  near  it  would  do.  They  went  the  mile  in  2:05  and  as 
Mr.  Andrews  gave  me  back  the  lines  he  remarked:  'He 
slips  away  from  you.  I  had  no  idea  he  was  going  that 
fast.  He  is  the  best  hitched,  most  perfectly  balanced  horse 
I  ever  drove.'  From  that  casual  remark  I  felt  that  I  was 
getting  some  place  with  William. 


WILLIAM  149 

"One  thing  about  him  was  that  as  a  two-year-old  and  a 
three-year-old  he  had  speed  for  three-quarters  of  a  mile  and 
then  would  go  rough,  yet  would  not  slow  up.  He  could  go 
a  quarter  as  a  three-year-old  in  29  seconds.  I  first  tried 
him  light  as  most  pacers  go  that  way  and  then  he  would  trot 
and  mix.  He  went  best  in  his  three-year-old  form  with  14 
ounce  shoes  and  4  ounce  toe  weights  and  won  his  first  race 
shod  that  way,  pacing  one  of  his  miles  in  2:111/4  over  a 
half  mile  track  which  was  at  Terre  Haute,  in  July. 

"After  that  I  began  taking  the  weight  off  a  little  at  a 
time  every  week  until  I  had  his  front  shoes  8  ounces  and  his 
hind  shoes  41/^  ounces,  all  with  bars,  placing  his  toes  at 
3'*^  inches  in  front  with  50  angle  and  3^  inches  behind  with 
55  angle.  I  continued  to  train  him  much  as  other  horses. 
He  did  not  have  many  fast  miles.  In  1914  he  began  to  leave 
off  his  rough  way  of  going  and  before  starting  in  a  race  that 
year  he  could  go  a  mile  and  a  quarter  without  getting  rough- 
gaited. 

"I  have  been  asked  many  times  what  I  gave  William  that 
made  him  go  so  fast  and  so  far.  The  only  answer  is  that 
William  never  had  any  drugs  inside  or  outside.  We  did 
not  use  any  bandages  on  him.  He  never  was  shipped  in  ban- 
dages or  cotton  by  me  or  my  men  and  we  had  him  three  years 
and  when  he  was  turned  oxer  to  Mr.  Billings  after  his  return 
from  the  Montreal  race  he  was  as  sound  as  any  horse  that 
ever  lived. 

"The  day  William  paced  in  two-minutes  in  his  race  at 
the  Grand  Rapids  Grand  Circuit  meeting,  Mr.  Walter  Cox 
asked  me  if  that  was  a  hard  job.  I  forget  just  what  I  said 
to  him  in  reply  but  in  substance  it  was  that  I  could  truth- 
fully say  I  had  worked  much  harder  to  get  a  horse  to  go  a 
mile  in  three  minutes  and  then  did  not  succeed. 

"History  can  tell  you  better  than  I  can  what  William 
was  as  a  race  horse  from  July,  1913  to  September,  1915." 

Adding  to  what  Mr.  Marvin  says  about  the  shoeing  of 
William  it  might  here  be  noted  that  Arthur  Thomas,  writing 
for  The  Chicago  Horseman  stated  that  he  wore  only  quarter 
boots  in  front  and  coronet  and  shin-and-ankle  boots  behind, 
remarking:     "The  latter  somewhat  unusual  on  pacers."     He 


I^O  THE    TWO-MINUTE    PACERS 

also  was  surprised  at  the  bar  shoes  behind,  but  Prince  Alert 
wore  that  kind  and  Mart  Demarest  says  the  object  was  to 
strengthen  them. 

William's  first  two-minute  mile  was  the  first  one  in 
time  so  fast  to  be  done  in  a  regular  race  though  Minor  Heir 
had  paced  in  1 :59  when  he  was  a  member  of  the  exhibition 
stable  of  M.  W.  Savage.  Treating  the  William  mile  as  a 
world's  race  record  the  statisticians  gave  him  four  world's 
marks  as  the  result  of  his  Grand  Rapids  Grand  Circuit  race 
which  he  paced  in  2:001/,,  2:00,  2:02l/>.  Those  marks 
were:  Fastest  mile  in  a  regular  race;  fastest  second  heat; 
fastest  mile  by  a  four-year-old;  fastest  three-heat  race.  At 
the  beginning  of  1922  his  record  for  a  four-year-old  still 
stands  as  well  as  his  record  of  l:58l/i>  for  a  five-year-old. 
As  these  were  both  race  records  they  in  reality  give  William 
four  world's  records. 

The  fractional  time  of  William's  record  mile,  1 :58l/2 
and  of  the  two-minute  mile  in  the  second  heat  of  the  same 
race  is:  3014,  1:0014,  1:30,  l:58yo  and  31,  1:01,  1:30%, 
2:00.  That  is  evidence  of  the  fact  that  on  that  particular 
day  he  was  master  of  the  pacing  division  and  serves  to  bear 
out  the  belief  of  Mr.  Marvin  that  no  living  pacer  could  have 
beaten  him  that  year  had  he  gone  on  racing.  The  time  of 
the  two  miles  was  within  a  half-second  of  the  world's  two- 
heat  record  set  by  Directum  I  the  previous  year  at  Columbus 
and  William  was  the  horse  that  forced  him  to  do  it.  In 
the  race  in  which  he  made  his  record  William  also  lowered 
the  world's  record  for  five-year-olds. 

Mr.  Marvin  has  referred  us  to  the  history  of  the  American 
turf  for  the  great  achievements  of  William.  Let  us  glance 
at  that  history  and  see  something  of  what  he  did. 

As  a  three-year-old  he  took  part  in  six  races  and  won  all 
of  them.  In  doing  so  he  secured  the  world's  record  of  2:05 
for  three-year-old  pacers  and  the  record  of  2:09  for  three- 
year-old  pacers  over  a  half-mile  track.  As  one  writer  on 
turf  topics  said:  "Although  the  good  colt's  campaign  was 
confined  to  a  very  small  section  of  the  United  States  the 
harness  horse  world  was  aware  that  a  star  of  the  first  magni- 
tude was  arising  in  the  Central  West." 


WILLIAM  I  5  I 

The  Indiana  pacer  did  not  invade  the  Grand  Circuit  in 
1914,  as  a  four-year-old  unheralded  and  unsung.  He  was 
shipped  to  North  Randall  for  the  finishing  touches  to  his 
preparation  and  no  track  in  the  world  has  a  greater  array 
of  morning  spectators  when  the  period  for  fast  miles  ar- 
rives. And  so  William  not  only  gave  a  multitude  a  line 
on  his  speed  but  made  all  of  them  his  admirers,  no  one  of 
them  more  pronounced  than  "Billy"  Andrews  and  it  may 
be  well  to  state  here  that  when  Mr.  Marvin  asked  him  to  drive 
the  colt  a  mile  Mr.  Andrews  was  more  than  delighted  for 
a  few  moments  before  he  had  said  to  an  intimate  friend: 
"How  I  would  love  to  ride  one  mile  behind  that  pacer.  He 
looks  to  me  like  a  world  beater."  The  latter  part  of  the 
remark  was  no  guess.  Billy  Andrews  was  a  man  who  knew 
horse  quality  when  he  saw  it.  And  what  he  said,  by  way 
of  encouragement  to  Mr.  Marvin  when  he  dismounted  was 
just  a  little  added  to  the  mass  of  evidence  that  he  was  the 
possessor  of  the  right  sort  or  heart.  Mr.  Marvin  testifies 
that  it  did  him  a  lot  of  good. 

Returning  to  the  1914  campaign.  William  made  his 
first  start  of  the  year  and  his  first  in  select  society  at  North 
Randall  in  the  2:05  class  and  won  it  as  he  pleased  in  2:02, 
2:02'*^.  He  won  his  next  start,  the  following  week  at  De- 
troit and  then  came  his  sensational  race  at  Grand  Rapids, 
which  has  already  been  mentioned  and  in  which  he  paced 
the  first  two-minute  race  mile  on  a  Grand  Circuit  track. 
As  he  had  no  stake  engagements  that  race  meant  either  trials 
against  time  or  match  races.  He  was  soon  matched  against 
Directum  I,  a  horse  that  in  the  hands  of  Raymond  Snedeker 
had  paced  in  even  time  on  two  occasions  after  William  had 
turned  the  trick.  The  race  was  made  for  Comstock  Park 
track  at  Grand  Rapids  and  William  won  it  in  2:01-^, 
2:0114,  2:021/2.  This  was  the  first  pacing  race  ever  put  on 
in  which  both  starters  had  records  of  two  minutes.  Directum 
I  defeated  him  a  week  later  at  Columbus  in  1:58,  2:00  and 
also  defeated  him  in  a  poor  contest  at  Grand  Rapids  about 
the  middle  of  October,  neither  horse  being  what  he  had  been 
because,  with  no  engagements  in  sight,  neither  had  been  kept 
on  edge.     Directum  I  won  in  2:041/4?  2:011/4.     That  ended 


152  THE    TWO-MINUTE    PACERS 

the  efforts  of  both  for  the  year.  William  had  started  at 
a  few  tracks  during  the  season  against  the  watch  but  his 
best  mile  was  in  two  minutes.  He  seemed  to  be  a  race 
horse  and  nothing  else. 

The  year  1915  saw  William  at  the  top  of  his  form  and  it 
is  of  that  year  that  Mr.  Marvin  speaks  so  confidently  in  his 
letter.  He  began  the  season  in  the  race  for  free-for-all 
pacers  at  the  Detroit  Grand  Circuit  meeting,  purse  $5,000, 
and  after  Directum  I  had  won  the  first  heat  William  won  the 
next  two,  and  the  race,  in  2:02  and  2:04.  The  time  was  slow 
because  of  the  fact  that  the  contending  drivers  were  sparring 
for  advantage  but  the  tremendous  speed  of  William  and  his 
superb  condition  made  him  master  of  the  situation  when  time 
came  for  the  inevitable  brush.  The  last  appearance  of 
William  that  year  with  a  professional  driver  was  at  Montreal 
where  he  again  defeated  Directum  I  in  2:04,  2:00^/^.  His 
record  race  at  North  Randall  has  already  been  told  in  detail. 

As  a  member  of  the  Billings  stable  William  set  a  world's 
record  when  his  owner  drove  him  a  mile  to  wagon  in  1:591/2, 
the  fastest  mile  ever  driven  by  an  amateur.  He  paced  to 
wagon  in  1:59'^  for  Mr.  Billings  at  Lexington  that  fall. 

"Billy"  Marvin  should  not  be  considered  as  having  been 
"made"  by  William.  In  other  words,  he  had  quite  a  repu- 
tation as  a  capable  trainer  long  before  he  brought  out  the 
great  son  of  Abe  J.  And  the  best  evidence  of  his  ability 
is  shown  in  the  fact  that  when  he  was  so  fortunate  as  to  get 
one  of  the  truly  great  he  proceeded  to  handle,  condition  and 
develop  him  properly  and  the  result  of  his  intelligent  en- 
deavor was  one  of  the  greatest  pacers  yet  brought  before 
the  public.  It  may  be  true,  as  many  writers  insist,  that 
"great  horses  make  great  drivers"  but  it  is  equally  true  that 
it  takes  a  great  trainer  to  make  a  great  horse.  William  was 
a  great  horse  and  W.  W.  Marvin  "made"  him. 

William  is  a  bay  horse,  foaled  1910,  sired  by  Abe  J. 
2:10  pacing  (son  of  San  Meto  2:131/4)  dam  Lizzie  C.  by 
Jaywood.  He  was  bred  by  Mr.  A.  E.  Vanatta,  Otterbein, 
Ind.,  and  was  owned  by  him  during  his  racing  career. 


^ 


Under  his  spurning  feet  the  road 
Like  an  arrowy  Alpine  river  flowed. 

— Thos.  Buchanan  Read. 


DIRECTUM  I 

Champion  Racing  Pacer 
Record  1:58,  Race;  1:5634  Against  Time 

IRECTUM  I,  1:563/4,  "in  the  open",  which  means 
with  no  front  pace,  wind-shield  so-called,  is  ac- 
claimed world's  champion  by  his  admirers  and  they 
number  countless  thousands.  One  of  them  has  recorded  his 
opinions  in  this  manner:  "If  I  were  pinned  down  to  it  and 
called  upon  to  declare  my  choice  of  the  one  greatest  pacer 
of  all  time,  based  on  public  performances  I  would  certainly 
have  to  select  Directum  I.  This  opinion  is  based  upon 
careful  analytical  survey  of  everything  included.  His  rec- 
ord as  an  index  of  his  speed,  not  only,  but  his  entire  history 
as  a  race  horse,  including  individuality,  gait,  manners, 
gameness,  stamina,  consistency,  campaigning  quality,  ability 
to  negotiate  all  kinds  of  tracks  and  with  all  kinds  of  driv- 
ing. Based  upon  these  qualifications  it  is  stating  the  simple 
truth  to  record  the  fact  that  Directum  I  surpasses  all  other 
pacers  yet  seen." 

Which,  it  will  be  admitted  is  exceedingly  great  praise. 
But  all  others  of  the  great  army  which  is  made  up  of  the 
admirers  of  Directum  I  say  about  the  same  things  and 
refuse  to  be  budged  from  their  belief.  So  it  must  be  set 
down  as  one  of  the  facts  of  pacing  horse  history  that  Direc- 
tum I  must  have  had  all  the  necessary  qualifications  else 
there  would  not  be  so  much  said  in  praise  of  him.  William 
defeated  him  in  four  of  the  six  races  in  which  they  met  but 
the  followers  of  Directum  Kelly's  noted  son,  says  about  those 
races  that  "William's  career  in  its  entirety,  makes  a  sorry 
showing  in  comparison."      Let  us  here  set  it  down  that  the 


156  THE    TWO-MINUTE    PACERS 

champions  of  both  great  pacers  are  correct.  They  were  a 
mighty  pair  when  in  their  prime  and  on  two  occasions,  each 
being  returned  once  winner,  showed  the  public  two  marvel- 
ous contests.  Directum  I  winning  in  1914,  in  1:58  and  2:00, 
William  winning  the  next  year  in  1:58^/2  and  2:00.  A 
tick  of  the  watch  marks  the  recorded  difference  in  their 
racing  ability  on  those  two  occasions  and,  furthermore, 
neither  can  profit  at  all  by  any  attempt  to  detract  from  the 
abundant  merit  of  his  rival.  They  did  great  things  and 
Directum  I,  let  it  be  recorded,  did  more  of  them.  May  we 
be  allowed  to  see  more  of  their  kind. 

John  Ryan  brought  Directum  I  before  the  public,  and 
drove  him  in  a  lot  of  sparkling  races.  Raymond  Snedeker 
had  him  later  and  it  was  he  who  drove  him  to  his  world's 
race  record  of  1:58.  Tommy  Murphy  was  his  next  driver 
and  he  drove  him  to  four  world's  records — a  half  mile  in 
55^4  seconds;  a  mile  and  one  sixteenth  in  2:09'^;  a  mile 
and  one  eighth  in  2:16%;  a  mile  in  the  open  in  1:56%. 
It  will  not  do  to  say  that  the  pacer  was  badly  driven  by  any 
one  for  the  proof  of  the  ability  of  his  pilots  is  shown  in  what 
he  did  for  them.  Indeed,  in  talking  about  this  wonderful 
pacer  Mr.  Murphy  but  recently  said  to  an  acquaintance: 
"Directum  I  was  a  great  horse  for  every  trainer  that  had 
him.  John  Ryan  brought  him  out  and  did  great  things  with 
him;  Ray  Snedeker  had  him  in  world-beating  form;  the  horse 
did  great  things  for  me.  Give  the  horse  some  of  the  credit, 
but  do  not  take  any  from  the  boys  who  had  him  before  he 
came  to  me.  What  he  was  as  a  race  horse  and  what  he 
could  do  when  asked  to  beat  the  watch  fills  no  inconsiderable 
space  in  the  history  of  the  pacer." 

It  is  noted  in  the  annals  of  the  turf  that  Directum  I 
was  foaled  in  1907  and  that  he  began  his  racing  career  as 
a  four-year-old  and  that  John  Ryan  brought  him  out  and 
that  during  his  first  season  he  made  a  total  of  nine  starts 
winning  five  races  and  retiring  with  a  record  of  2:16%. 
There  was  not  much  in  that  to  create  any  great  amount  of 
enthusiasm  nor  to  indicate  that  a  new  turf  star  was  about  to 
burst  forth.  But  as  little  as  it  meant,  there  was  at  least  one 
trainer  who  knew  something.     He  let  the  public  in  on  the 


DIRECTUM    I  157 

secret  the  next  season,  that  is,  the  portion  of  the  public 
which  goes  to  the  half-mile  tracks,  for  he  started  his  pacer 
ten  times  and  the  summaries  tell  us  that  he  was  ten  times 
announced  the  winner  and  that  he  reduced  his  record  to 
2:0814?  ^vhich  was  no  mean  performance  for  a  twice-around. 
Next  year  he  was  raced  a  few  times  on  the  half-mile 
tracks  and  at  Goshen  set  the  world's  race  record  for  the 
two-lap  oval  at  2:02'^,  and  that  mark  stood  until  Single  G 
reduced  it  to  2:01  at  Des  Moines,  la.,  five  years  later.  The 
Grand  Circuit  was  then  invaded  and  in  the  course  of  the  tour 
Directum  I  proved  to  be  practically  unbeatable,  scoring  vic- 
tories over  the  best  in  his  class  and  reducing  his  record  to 
2:0214-  It  was  a  matter  of  keen  regret  on  the  part  of  his 
admirers  that  he  fell  a  victum  to  sudden  sickness  at  Lexing- 
ton and  was  drawn  from  his  race  after  forcing  Frank  Bogash 
to  a  mark  of  2:01'^  in  the  opening  heat. 

That  campaign  indicated  that  a  new  pacer  was  ready  to 
enter  the  two-minute  list  and  the  next  year,  1914,  he  came 
in,  pacing  the  second  and  thrid  heats  at  Syracuse,  N.  Y.,  in 
two-minutes  flat,  breaking  the  record  for  a  three-heat  race, 
divided  heats.  Within  a  few  weeks  he  lowered  his  record  to 
1:58'^,  at  Detroit,  and  then  the  public  knew  the  new  star 
had  arrived  with  all  four  feet. 

This  performance  brought  about  the  match  races  with 
William,  then  a  four-year-old,  who  had  paced  a  race  at 
Grand  Rapids  in  exactly  two  minutes,  shortly  before  Direc- 
tum I  did  the  same  thing  at  Syracuse.  William  won  the 
first  of  these  races,  which  was  staged  at  Grand  Rapids,  but 
the  miles  were  all  three  short  of  two  minutes.  Within  a  few 
days  the  pair  met  again  at  Columbus  and  it  was  then  the 
world's  record  for  pacing  races  was  set  at  1:58,  Directum 
I  winning.  Another  match  at  Grand  Rapids  in  the  late  fall 
gave  Directum  I  another  victory  and  again  there  was  no  two- 
minute  mile.  Meanwhile,  Directum  I  had  won  the  free-for- 
all  at  Lexington,  pacing  the  third  heat  in  1:591/2  and  after 
Grand  Rapids  he  reduced  the  track  record  at  Kirkwood,  Del., 
from  2:04%  to  1:59^.  The  victory  over  William  at 
Grand  Rapids  was  destined  to  be  the  last,  for  in  1915 
he  met  William  three  times,  and  lost  on  each  occasion,  but 


158  THE    TWO-MINUTE    PACERS 

his  speed  was  such  that  at  North  Randall  the  Indiana  pacer 
was  carried  so  fast,  parts  of  both  miles,  that  they  were 
paced  in  l:58l/{>  and  2:00.  That  year  Directum  I  paced 
a  mile  in  1  iSSy^  at  Hartford,  defeated  Peter  Stevens  in  a 
match  at  Allentown,  Pa.,  and  then,  at  Syracuse,  N.  Y.,  paced 
his  most  sensational  mile,  in  the  open,  in  1  iSG'Y^. 

His  work  in  1916  consisted  in  some  record  making 
efforts  which  resulted  in  new  records  at  odd  distances  from  a 
half-mile  to  a  mile  and  one  eighth,  and  these  records  have 
already  been  given  in  this  chapter. 

Few  pacers  of  better  gait  than  Directum  I  have  ever  been 
seen.  He  wore  knee,  ankle  and  quarter  boots  forward  and 
light  scalpers  behind,  and  it  follows  that  they  were  necessary 
but  he  was  by  no  means  hard  on  them,  hence  it  is  safe  to 
assume  that  they  were  largely  used  to  guard  against  mishap. 
His  shoes  were  as  light  as  they  could  be  made. 

His  "stealing"  way  of  going,  especially  when  racing 
alongside  the  high-striding  William,  gave  one  the  impression 
of  a  swallow  in  easy  flight  and  if  there  is  anything  in  the  idea 
that  the  gait  of  no  lost  motion  is  the  best,  certainly  the  way 
Directum  I  went  at  speed  would  seem  to  bear  it  out.  There 
has  lived  no  other  pacer  that  could  go  a  piece  of  the  way  as 
fast  as  he  and  he  seldom  turned  that  he  did  not  show  it. 
And  again  let  us  quote  from  the  admirer  whose  views  on 
another  phase  of  Directum  I  have  already  been  presented. 
He  says:  "Directum  was  faster  than  William  for  a  burst." 
He  is  writing  of  the  time  when  both  horses  appeared  to  be 
at  their  best.  And  there  is  no  doubt  that  he  is  right.  There 
are  few  men  who  saw  Directum  I  race  who  will  not  testify 
that  for  pure  speed  we  have  never  had  his  like.  His  records 
show  that  he  could  sustain  it  for  long  flights,  too,  but  not  the 
rate  he  so  frequently  showed  when  called  upon,  for  that 
would  not  be  expected  of  any  horse,  even  one  so  great  as 
Directum  I.  In  other  words,  for  a  short  distance,  he  seemed 
to  possess  the  speed  of  a  quarter  horse. 

Directum  I  was  bred  by  Jas.  Butler  at  his  East  View 
Stock  Farm  in  New  York,  and  was  by  Directum  Kelly  out  of 
Izetta  R.  by  Pactolus.  He  was  owned  after  1914  by  the  late 
M.   E.   Sturgis  who   also,   at   one   time,   owned    Dan   Patch. 


w 
hJ 

1-4 

<: 

Q 


O 


//  old  age  would  overlook  me 
Like  the  horse  that  Time  forgot. 

— Walter  Palmer. 


SINGLE  G 

Holds  All  World's  Records  For  Three-Heat  Races 

Record  1  ^59 

INGLE  G  1 :59,  has  paced  race  miles  in  two-minutes 
or  better  for  four  different  drivers — Mr.  Curt  Gos- 
nell,  Mr.  Fred  Jamison,  Mr.  E.  F.  Geers  and  Mr. 
Ed.  Allen  and  that  cannot  be  said  of  any  other  horse  that 
has  enrolled  his  name  among  the  elect  of  the  pacing  division. 
This  Indiana  pacer  began  racing  in  1913,  and  is  to  be  pre- 
pared for  the  1922  campaign  for,  despite  his  twelve  years 
of  life  and  nine  years  of  campaigning  he  came  to  the  dawn  of 
the  New  Year  looking  like  a  five-year-old. 

Howard  Vickery  gave  the  colt  his  first  lessons  in  1912 
and  that  included  breaking.  The  youngster  had  quite  a 
temper  and  willful  ways  but  he  came  along  nicely  after  he 
learned  what  he  was  required  to  do  and  worked  in  2:1514 
the  first  season  he  was  trained.  Through  the  winter  of 
1912-13,  he  was  jogged  and  Mr.  Vickery  trained  him  and 
raced  him  in  his  three-year-old  form  giving  him  a  record 
of  2:1214-  That  year  he  raced  with  William  and  Russell 
Boy  and  that  trio  became  about  as  famous  as  any  bunch 
that  learned  their  first  racing  lessons  together.  He  won  four 
of  his  races  and  was  second  in  the  other  four.  After  Single 
G  uas  broken,  his  manners  were  the  best  and  in  his  eight 
starts  at  three  he  was  returned  winner  often  enough  to  indi- 
cate that  he  would  become  a  pacer  of  real  class.  From  the 
time  he  made  his  first  start  as  a  four-year-old  he  was  always 
in  the  public  eye  because  he  was  always  doing  something 
to  merit  attention  and  approval  and  at  last  he  became  the 
idol  of  Indiana  horse  lovers. 


162  THE    TWO-MINUTE    PACERS 

Mr.  Ed.  H.  Allen  had  Single  G  for  the  first  time  in  1918, 
driving  him  in  a  race  at  the  Illinois  State  Fair  and  then  taking 
him  to  Des  Moines,  where  at  the  Iowa  State  Fair  he  won  the 
free-for-all  pace  and  took  the  world's  record  over  a  half- 
mile  track  of  2:01  as  well  as  the  record  for  a  three-heat  race 
over  a  half-mile  track.  He  then  defeated  William  in  a 
match  race  and  also  Russell  Boy,  the  latter  at  South  Bend, 
where  he  lowered  the  state  record  for  a  half-mile  track. 
He  beat  the  same  pacer  again  the  next  week  at  Danville, 
111.,  and  again  lowered  a  state  record  for  a  half-mile  track. 
He  was  then  shipped  to  Mr.  Geers  at  Lexington,  who  won 
and  lost  with  him  in  the  two  races  he  started  for. 

Mr.  Allen  wintered  him  at  Indianapolis  and  raced  him 
in  1919  until  he  had  to  go  to  other  hands  because  of  an  acci- 
dent to  Mr.  Allen  which  resulted  in  a  broken  arm.  Up  to  that 
time  he  had  won  four  races  out  of  six  starts,  the  losing  races 
being  on  half-mile  tracks.  At  Toledo,  he  won,  and  paced 
in  1 :59'%|^,  the  fastest  heat  of  the  year.  After  the  accident 
to  his  regular  driver  the  horse  was  turned  over  to  Harry 
Stokes  who  drove  him  in  three  races,  in  one  of  which  he 
forced  Grace  Direct  to  a  record  of  2:00^.  Mr.  Dick 
McMahon  drove  him  in  his  next  race,  at  the  Wisconsin  State 
Fair,  where  he  was  second  to  William.  He  then  went  back 
to  Mr.  Allen  who  took  him  to  Allentown,  Pa.,  and  beat  Adioo 
Guy,  then  retired  him  for  the  year. 

"I  jogged  him  that  winter  five  to  six  miles  every  day." 
Said  Mr.  Allen,  in  an  interview  for  this  volume.  "Up  to 
that  time  I  had  never  changed  his  rigging  in  any  way  from 
what  it  was  when  I  first  got  him.  He  wore  a  Jaynes  bit 
which  I  took  off  and  in  its  place  put  a  common  snaffle  bit 
which  I  found  made  him  a  lot  easier  to  guide.  He  wore  a 
six  ounce  shoe  and  his  front  toes  were  3'|4  inches.  I  cut  them 
down  to  3'^  and  shod  him  with  an  open  swedge  shoe  the 
same  weight  he  had  worn.  His  hind  shoes  were  8l/>  ounce 
swedge.  I  cut  his  hind  feet  to  3'^^  inches,  same  as  his  front 
feet  and  shod  him  with  5I/2  ounce  swedge  shoes.  With  the 
weight  and  longer  toes  he  would  brush  his  hocks  quite  a  little 
and,  at  times,  would  get  very  rough  gaited  and  roll  and 
tumble  about  a  lot.    After  cutting  his  feet  down  and  changing 


SINGLE    G  163 

his  shoes  I  found  he  went  much  truer  and  straighter.  After 
rigging  him  this  way  I  took  off  his  hind  shin  hoots  and  have 
never  used  them  since. 

"He  wears  quarter  boots  in  front  and  also  races  in  front 
bandages.  Little  coronet  boots  behind  and  a  neck  pole  com- 
plete his  equipment. 

"I  started  going  miles  with  him  in  the  spring  of  1919 
around  2:45  a  little  faster  each  succeeding  week  until  I  got 
to  2:15.  The  same  way  the  next  two  springs.  I  never  brush 
him  any  fast  eighths  or  quarters,  just  go  the  miles  all  about 
the  same.  Then  I  go  a  lot  of  miles  around  2:15.  I  have 
never  worked  him  a  mile  faster  than  2:04l^  before  a  race 
and  between  his  races  I  work  him  once,  going  four  or  five 
heats,  two  of  them  as  fast  as  2:15.  I  do  not  make  a  practice 
of  working  him  the  day  before  he  is  to  race,  usually  just 
jog  him  two  or  three  miles. 

"His  first  start  in  the  1920  campaign  was  at  North  Ran- 
dall, where  he  won,  the  best  time  2:01*'^.  The  fastest  mile 
he  had  previous  to  that  race  was  in  2:06.  After  that  race 
he  had  quite  a  trip.  He  raced  and  won  at  Toledo,  was  second 
at  Columbus,  then  was  laid  up  two  weeks  and  invaded  the 
Great  West.  He  won  at  Davenport,  la.,  half-mile  track,  with 
Hammie  Allen  driving 'and  beat  Russell  Boy  in  2:061/4. 
Then  he  went  to  Madison,  Wis.,  where  'Billy'  Marvin  drove 
him  an  exhibition  mile  in  2:04l/o.  At  Milwaukee  I  drove  him 
and  won  the  free-for-all  at  Hamline,  Omaha  and  Columbus. 
Louie  Grattan  beat  him  in  her  record-making  two-minute 
race  at  Lexington  and  the  next  week  he  beat  her  back  in 
straight  heats.  At  Atlanta  he  won  and  paced  the  fastest 
three  consecutive  heats  on  record — 1:59,  2:00,  2:00^. 

"He  was  shipped  to  Indianapolis  and  wintered  about 
the  same  as  usual  and  again  he  opened  the  racing  season 
(1921),  his  ninth,  in  Ohio,  at  Canton.  And  he  came  home 
as  frisky  as  a  colt.  The  campaign  was  a  long  one  and 
a  strenuous  one  and  no  pacer  beat  him.  You  can  find  the 
story  of  it  easily  if  you  care  for  it.  ( It  appears  in  this 
chapter. — Ed). 

"He  is  what  we  would  call  a  good  doer.     He  never  misses 


164  THE    TWO-MINUTE    PACERS 

a  meal  and  his  feed  is  just  good  oats  and  hay,  and  plenty  of 
it,  with  bran  once  in  a  while. 

"In  all  his  work  and  racing  for  me  he  has  made  but  one 
break  and  that  was  in  1921,  at  Columbus,  in  the  second  heat 
just  after  we  got  the  word  and  were  going  into  the  first  turn. 
Murphy  was  going  to  the  front  with  Sanardo  and  in  crossing 
to  the  pole  his  wheel  caught  the  buckle  of  Single  G's  quarter 
boot.  He  only  made  about  two  jumps,  lost  no  more  than  two 
or  three  lengths  and  won  the  heat  in  2:0iy^^  which  is  prob- 
ably the  world's  record  for  a  heat  with  a  break  in  it. 

"I  suppose  there  are  a  lot  of  people  who  think  that  Single 
G  is  sour  or  cross  about  going  back  to  the  score  after  a  false 
start.  But  he  is  not.  He  just  wants  to  take  his  time.  When 
he  turns  with  his  field  he  is  always  ready.  He  knows  as 
much  about  trailing  and  racing  from  behind  as  any  horse 
in  the  world.  On  the  other  hand,  he  has  proved  that  he  can 
race  out  in  front  and  take  pretty  good  care  of  himself  in  that 
position.  When  he  got  his  record  of  1 :59  at  Atlanta  in  1920, 
he  trailed  Sanardo  until  past  the  three-quarter  pole  yet 
when  he  got  his  record  of  2:01  over  a  half-mile  track  he 
raced  in  front  all  the  way." 

"His  owner's  instructions  are  not  to  start  him  until  he 
is  ready  and  give  him  the  best  of  everything  in  the  way  of 
feed  and  care.  John  Phillips,  who  has  had  him  for  the  past 
three  years,  and  still  has  him,  cannot  be  given  too  much  credit 
for  the  splendid  form  in  which  Single  G   has  raced  for  me." 

So  remarkable  were  the  doings  of  Single  G  in  Ed.  Allen's 
hands  in  his  eleventh  year,  1921,  that  this  story  would  not  be 
complete  without  the  details.  He  started  sixteen  times,  eight 
races  on  the  Grand  Circuit,  all  of  which  he  won;  three  regular 
events  on  half-mile  tracks,  all  of  which  he  won;  two  match 
races  on  half-mile  tracks,  both  of  which  he  won ;  an  effort  to 
lower  his  record,  in  which  he  just  equalled  it,  going  in  1:59; 
a  match  race  with  Peter  Manning,  which  he  lost;  and  an 
exhibition  mile  at  Poughkeepsie.  His  winnings  for  the  year 
amounted  to  more  than  $20,000,  a  sum  no  other  horse  of  his 
age  ever  turned  in  and  a  sum  larger  than  most  of  those  in  the 
younger  division  have  ever  been  able  to  get  together  in  a 
single  season.     He  paced  three  different  miles  in  two  minutes 


SINGLE    G  165 

or  better  and  many  in  2:0014  to  2:03  and  his  great  form 
made  his  work  look  quite  easy.  This  was  his  fourth  cam- 
paign in  the  hands  of  Mr.  Allen  and  it  is  noteworthy  that 
in  its  course  he  made  his  first  starts  against  time  on  Grand 
Circuit  tracks,  pacing  the  one  at  North  Randall  in  1:59  and 
that  at  Poughkeepsie  in  2:01')4. 

Mr.  W.  B.  Barefoot,  breeder  and  owner  of  Single  G  says: 
"In  all  his  nine  years  of  racing  he  has  started  in  every 
race  in  which  he  was  entered  if  it  went  and  he  has  never  been 
drawn  from  a  race.  The  fact  that  he  is  as  sound  as  a  dollar 
at  the  beginning  of  his  twelfth  year  may  be  due  to  his  an- 
cestiy.  His  dam  was  twenty-two  years  of  age  when  he  was 
foaled  and  his  sire  was  twenty-six  when  he  was  begotten. 
Single  G's  dam  was  destroyed  after  an  accident,  at  the  age 
of  thirty-one. 

"While  he  was  willful  as  a  colt  he  has  always  been  kind 
if  well  treated  and  is  easy  to  get  along  with,  but  if  mistreated 
will  always  take  care  of  himself  and  fight  to  the  finish. 

"He  is  a  very  close  observer.  For  example,  in  the  fall 
of  1916,  when  he  was  shipped  home  to  Cambridge  City,  the 
house  where  his  trainer  had  lived  had  burned  and  the  wreck- 
age was  entirely  cleared  away.  It  had  been  just  across  the 
street.  He  stopped,  looked  over  that  way  and  for  quite  a 
while  refused  to  go  in  the  barn. 

"He  seems  to  have  a  perfect  understanding  with  me  and 
knows  me  as  far  as  he  can  see  me.  I  say  'Hello,  Dick'  (that 
is  his  stable  name)  and  then  he  puts  his  head  over  my 
shoulder  and  I  give  him  a  chew  of  fine  cut  tobacco,  of  which 
he  is  very  fond.  In  the  racing  season  I  carry  a  big  bunch  of 
carrots  to  him  ever^^  morning  and  he  is  fed  a  lot  of  them 
and  when  race  day  comes  he  has  an  extra  portion,  as  he 
eats  carrots  all  the  time  between  heats." 

Harry  Williams,  a  groom  who  sees  a  lot  of  things  worth 
while  as  he  goes  along,  says  of  a  recent  visit  to  Cambridge 
City:  "There  must  have  been  something  about  Single  G 
when  he  was  a  colt  that  innoculated  the  entire  population  of 
his  home  town  for  they  always  had  confidence  that  he  would 
become  a  champion.  Ever\'  man,  woman  and  child  you  talk 
to  in  that  town  claims  the  horse  as  his  or  her  own.     'Our 


1 66  THE    TWO-MINUTE    PACERS 

horse'  they  all  say.  In  Big  Dick's  restaurant  the  walls  are 
full  of  pictures  of  Single  G.  The  one  I  admire  the  most  was 
taken  in  the  pasture  with  his  dam  and  is  the  only  photograph 
of  a  suckling  colt  that  looks  exactly  like  he  looks  at  the  age 
of  twelve.  On  the  other  hand,  the  indication  of  his  great 
future  may  have  been  in  the  peculiar  mark,  a  distinct  G  in 
his  forehead,  a  mark  that  I  suppose  everybody  who  knows 
horses  already  knows  about  and  that  from  it  he  was  given 
his  name." 

'T  am  told  that  Mr.  Barefoot  has  made  provision  for  the 
care  and  burial  of  his  great  horse  if  the  latter  should  sur- 
vive him.  And  that  strikes  me  as  showing  some  of  the 
feeling  that  makes  men  better  and  more  worth  while.  For 
it  means  that  Single  G  will  never  be  called  on  to  do  hard 
labor  in  his  old  days — that  is  if  ever  he  grows  old." 

Going  back  to  the  earlier  racing  career  of  Single  G  we 
find  that  Howard  Vickery  trained  him  again  for  the  1914 
campaign  and  also  raced  him  with  more  than  ordinary  suc- 
cess, for  the  four-year-old  won  fifteen  races  out  of  sixteen 
starts  and  tied  the  world's  record  for  a  pacer  his  age  on  a 
half-mile  track.  The  late  Curt  Gosnell  drove  him  in  one  of 
that  year's  races  and  the  late  Fred  Jamison  had  him  the  latter 
part  of  the  season,  giving  him  a  record  of  2:07^  on  a  half- 
mile  track,  which  was  at  Saginaw,  Mich. 

He  was  wintered  by  Gosnell  at  Cambridge  City  and 
trained  by  him  for  the  1915  season,  making  his  bow  to  the 
Grand  Circuit  and  winning  many  races,  among  them  the 
Chamber  of  Commerce  Purse,  where  he  took  a  record  of 
2:03^,  then  his  best  mark.  He  retired  for  the  year,  one  of 
the  most  talked-about  pacers  that  had  ever  been  raced,  for 
the  public  realized  that  he  had  done  more  than  most  pacers 
had  ever  before  accomplished  and  that  his  half-mile  track 
campaigns  were  the  evidence  of  genuine  merit.  It  was  freely 
predicted  that  he  was  destined  to  enter  the  two-minute  list 
but  it  is  doubtful  if  his  most  ardent  admirers  believed  he 
would  accomplish  as  much  as  he  did  and  last  for  so  many 
years  that  were  to  be  marked  by  campaigns  about  as  strenu- 
ous as  any  horse  can  possibly  make  and  survive. 

He  was  wintered  at  Muncie,  Ind.,  by  Gosnell,  who  again 


SINGLE    G  167 

prepared  him  for  the  ensuing  campaign  and  who  started  him 
first  at  North  Randall,  the  opening  meeting  of  the  Grand 
Circuit  where  he  set  the  world's  record  for  a  three-heat  race 
by  winning  all  three  heats  in  2:0014,  2:0014,  2:0114.  At 
Kalamazoo  he  entered  the  select  list  with  a  heat  in  two-min- 
utes flat  in  a  race  which  he  won  from  Napoleon  Direct.  He 
had  won  at  Detroit  the  previous  week,  pacing  a  heat  in 
2:0014.  His  Kalamazoo  victory  was  destined  to  be  his  last, 
but  one,  for  the  year.  That  was  the  season  in  which  Napoleon 
Direct  was  at  his  best  and  while  the  Indiana  warrior  was 
good,  he  did  not  have  the  lick  necessary  to  beat  the  great 
Geers  pacer  who  defeated  him  in  all  the  eight  races  which 
followed  Kalamazoo. 

At  the  second  North  Randall  Grand  Circuit  meeting, 
Curt  Gosnell  met  with  the  accident  which  resulted  in  his  death 
and  his  great  pacer  went  into  the  stable  of  Walter  Cox, 
the  New  England  reinsman.  driving  him  in  all  his  races 
the  rest  of  the  year.  Gosnell  drove  him  in  three  winning 
and  two  losing  races  and  gave  him  his  first  two-minute  record. 
Cox  was  able  to  force  Napoleon  Direct  to  pace  many  miles 
close  to  two-minutes  but  the  fastest  heat  he  won  with  him 
was  in  2:02^,  when  he  beat  Ben  Earl  at  Lexington.  In 
Gosnells  hands  he  forced  Napoleon  Direct  to  a  record  of 
1 :59''^,  at  Columbus.  It  is  doubtful  if  Single  G  ever  raced 
more  gamely  than  during  the  season  of  1916.  He  was  try- 
ing, nearly  every  week,  against  one  a  trifle  superior  to  him 
in  point  of  speed,  yet  that  campaign  does  not  appear  to  have 
disturbed  him  at  all  nor  lessened  his  splendid  courage. 

He  was  ready  for  the  fray  early  in  the  season  of  1917. 
The  previous  fall  he  had  been  sent  to  Fred  Jamison,  who 
brought  him  out  for  the  races  in  splendid  form  and  who 
raced  him  all  year,  the  first  time  since  the  horse  was  a  three- 
year-old  that  the  fortunes  of  war  had  permitted  him  to  be 
in  the  care  of  one  trainer  an  entire  season.  This  was  in  no 
sense  due  to  changing  notions  of  the  owner  but  was  because 
of  circumstances  over  which  he  had  no  control.  The  desper- 
ate sickness  of  Curt  Gosnell  had  caused  one  change  of 
drivers;  his  untimely  death  had  caused  another  and  another 
untimely  death,  that  of  Fred   Jamison,   was  to   cause   still 


1 68  THE    TWO-MINUTE    PACERS 

another,  while  an  accident  was  destined  to  bring  about 
several  changes  so  that  Single  G  at  last  came  to  have  the 
honor  of  having  given  numerous  trainers  some  of  the  fastest 
race  rides  of  their  lives. 

During  the  season  of  1917  Jamison  won  five  races  with 
Single  G  on  the  Grand  Circuit  but  did  not  lower  his  record 
nor  drive  him  a  mile  as  good  as  two  minutes.  But  the  season 
was  an  entirely  satisfactory  one,  Single  G  was  always  in 
the  middle  of  the  fray  and  nobody  had  any  complaint  to 
make.  He  met  Miss  Harris  M.  that  year  and  she  finally  be- 
came good  enough  to  beat  him  but  in  all  cases  the  time  was 
quite  fast. 

He  started  the  season  of  1918  in  charge  of  Jamison  and  it 
was  at  Toledo,  with  that  capable  driver  in  the  sulky,  that 
Single  G  won  the  sensational  pacing  race  which  still  stands 
as  the  best  on  record  for  a  contest  of  divided  heats.  Miss 
Harris  M.  won  the  first  heat  in  1:581/4,  still  the  world's 
record  for  a  pacing  mare  and  for  a  regular  event  (not  a 
match)  and  then  Single  G  won  the  next  two  heats  in  1:591^, 
1:59'*^,  the  first  time  in  pacing  history  that  two-minutes  had 
been  beaten  in  all  the  heats  of  a  regular  race. 

And  that  was  the  last  time  Fred  Jamison  had  the  pleasure 
of  driving  this  great  pacer  for  the  grim  reaper  took  him  from 
the  scenes  of  life  within  a  very  few  days  and  again  Single  G 
must  make  the  acquaintance  of  a  new  driver.  Ed.  Allen 
took  him  on  the  western  trip  which  has  already  been  told  in 
detail  after  Mr.  Geers  had  won  a  race  with  him  at  North 
Randall's  second  Grand  Circuit  meeting  and  also  drove  him 
in  two  races  at  Lexington,  one  of  which  he  won  breaking  even 
in  the  two  with  Miss  Harris  M. 

Single  G  was  then  returned  to  Mr.  Allen  and  his  great 
deeds  in  the  hands  of  that  highly  capable  reinsman  and 
courteous  gentleman  have  already  been  told  in  this  chapter. 
He  threatened  to  go  through  the  campaign  of  1921  unbeaten 
and  his  friends  can  still  say  that  no  pacer  was  able  to  take 
his  measure.  Age  will  undoubtedly  exact  his  toil  from  this 
two-minute  race  horse,  in  due  time,  but  if  he  never  again 
does  lug  things  his  name  will  shine  among  the  stars  as  long 
as  men  love  the  light-harness  race  horse. 


SINGLE    G  169 

Single  G  has  started  in  107  races,  has  won  sixty  nine, 
was  second  in  twenty-five;  third  in  ten;  fourth  in  two  and  but 
once  outside  the  money.  In  other  words  he  has  won  prac- 
tically two-thirds  of  his  races. 

A  Detroit  man,  looking  for  a  bargain,  offered  $7,500 
for  him  in  1914  and  that  was  a  lot  of  money  for  a  half-mile 
track  pacer  that  particular  year.  The  offer  was  refused  and 
so  was  every  offer  that  followed  it  though  the  price  went  up 
to  more  than  $20,000.  How  much  would  have  been  offered 
by  the  Detroit  fancier  if  he  had  been  possessed  of  second 
sight  and  known  that  in  the  campaign  to  be  made  seven  years 
later  Single  G  would  win  $20,000?  In  fact  that  campaign 
appears  to  be  a  most  remarkable  thing  no  matter  how  you 
look  at  it.  Here  is  a  horse  that  had  raced  for  eight  years 
and  had  never  really  known  what  it  was  to  have  an  easy 
race;  had  made  a  wonderful  reputation  on  the  half-mile 
tracks  during  two  years  of  campaigning  then  had  cast  his  hat 
into  the  "Big  Ring",  met  all  comers  and  triumphed  in  a 
majority  of  his  efforts.  In  his  eighth  campaign  he  had 
reduced  his  record  to  1 :59  in  a  race  and  few  there  were 
who  expected  to  see  him  equal  it  the  following  year  or  even 
be  up  to  two-minute  racing.  Small  wonder  then  that  a 
prominent  turf  writer  printed  this  in  April,  1921: 

"Looking  younger  than  ever  and  showing  all  of  his  old- 
time  whizz  that  wonderful  old  war  horse,  Single  G  1 :59,  is 
being  prepared  for  his  ninth  campaign.  After  the  bay  stal- 
lion had  gone  through  five  or  six  of  his  lengthy  campaigns 
the  dopesters  began  to  figure  that  the  son  of  Anderson  Wilkes 
was  about  through — at  least  they  thought  no  horse  could  go 
through  the  hard  campaigns  that  he  did  and  come  back 
strong.  No  ordinary  horse  could.  But  Single  G  is  an  extra- 
ordinary horse  and  just  like  'licker'  he  seems  to  improve 
with  age.  * 

His  racing  ability,  now  so  well  known,  was  first  shown  to 
the  followers  of  the  Grand  Circuit  in  the  1915  race  for  the 
Chamber  of  Commerce  purse  of  $5,000.  Of  it  the  well- 
known  writer,  Frank  S.  Cooke,  said  the  day  after  in  his  story 
in  the  Detroit  Free  Press: 

''While   victory   was   comparatively   easy   this   does   not 


170  THE    TWO-MINUTE    PACERS 

detract  from  the  prowess  of  the  winner.  In  the  first  place 
he  picked  up  the  biggest  field  in  the  history  of  the  event, 
fourteen  scoring  for  the  word  and  among  the  lot  were  a  half 
dozen  that  were  rated  as  better  than  2:05  pacers  in  a  race. 
Drawing  a  poor  position  in  the  first  heat,  Single  G  was 
nursed  carefully  until  the  time  came  and  then  he  drew  away 
impressively,  his  own  mile  in  2:02,  which  is  faster  than  the 
record  of  this  event,  although  the  heat  was  in  2:031/?.  Next 
time  he  rolled,  went  bad-gaited  in  spots,  was  hard  driven  at 
the  end  and  many  thought  he  was  through,  but  in  the  third 
heat  he  won  off  by  himself." 

And  that  was  seven  years  ago.  Certainly  some  sort  of 
elixir  of  life  and  youth  must  be  filtered  into  the  lungs  of 
this  Indiana  wonder  from  the  air  he  breathes,  for  the  feats 
he  accomplished  that  day  at  Detroit  have  paled  into  the 
almost  ordinary  in  the  light  of  his  most  recent  achievements. 
It  is  no  doubt  true  that  on  that  day  he  was  very  nearly  as 
good  as  he  has  been  on  any  day  since,  though  perhaps  not 
quite  so  fast.  But  the  unbelievable  thing  about  him  is  that 
for  seven  years  in  a  row  he  could  maintain  that  very  form. 
The  year  Napoleon  Direct  defeated  him  so  often,  he  was  the 
only  pacer  in  training  that  could  do  it,  and  that  year  "Pop" 
Geers'  pacer  was  the  pacer  of  the  season  yet  he  was  com- 
pelled to  go  many,  many  miles  very  close  to  the  two-minute 
mark  to  stall  off  the  Indiana  speed  marvel.  And  yet  the 
very  next  year  Single  G  came  back  to  the  Grand  Circuit 
with  all  the  courage,  speed  and  stamina — and  more — that  he 
had  always  had.  How  many  other  horses  would  have  done 
it? 

In  1921  a  Toledo  turf  writer,  heralding  the  appearance 
of  the  old  warrior  at  the  local  Grand  Circuit  meeting  said 
of  him:  "At  eleven  years  of  age  he  is  meeting  and  beating 
his  third  successive  string  of  free-for-all  pacers,  having  dis- 
posed of  two  generations." 

As  already  stated  Mr.  W.  B.  Barefoot  bred  Single  G  and 
the  mating  was  Anderson  Wilkes,  then  22  years  old  and 
Little  Gyp,  then  26  years  old,  by  Shoo  Fly  Gyp.  Single  G 
has  had  many  drivers  but  one  owner  only. 


o 

Oh 
O 

Oh 


ON 


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o 
u 
hJ 

o 

< 


The  time  to  succeed  is  when   others 
Discouraged,  show  traces  of  tire. 
The  battle  is  fought  in  the  homestretch 
And  won — twixt  the  flag  and  the  wire. 

— John  Trot  wood  Moore. 


NAPOLEON  DIRECT 

Grand  Circuit  Champion  Racing  Pacer  1916 
Record  1:59% 

APOLEON  DIRECT  1:59%  gave  the  Grand  Old  Man 
of  the  trotting  world  his  first  ride  a  mile  in  two 
minutes  or  better.  Mr.  Geers  developed  and  "made" 
this  great  racing  pacer,  and  the  fame  of  his  horse  rests  not 
upon  his  dashes  against  time  but  his  exceptional  accomplish- 
ments as  a  racing  tool.  In  fact  he  was  never  started  save  in 
actual  contests — regular  events  on  the  Grand  Circuit. 

He  is  a  Tennessee  product,  sired  by  Geers'  old  pupil, 
Walter  Direct  and  out  of  Lady  Erectress  by  Kendall  a  grand- 
son of  Director  2:17. 

Mr.  Geers  first  introduced  the  big  horse  to  Grand  Circuit 
followers  in  1914  when  he  was  five  years  old  and  the  new- 
comer made  good  by  winning  ten  of  his  fourteen  starts  that 
year  and  taking  a  record  of  2\02}/U-  He  was  retired  in 
1916  holding  the  world's  record  of  2:011/>  for  a  fifth  heat 
and  the  world's  five  heat  race  record. 

His  best  record  was  taken  in  1916  at  Columbus,  0.,  and 
of  his  preparation  for  the  campaign  of  that  year  Mr.  Geers 
writes  under  date  of  January  25,  1922: 

"Napoleon  Direct  was  handled  just  about  as  we  would  all 
handle  a  good  horse  when  starting  in  with  him  to  get  him 
into  condition  for  what  we  knew  would  be  a  very  hard 
campaign.     And  that  we  were  sure  was  ahead  of  him. 

"I  gave  him  a  good  many  slow  miles  in  the  spring,  going 
just  a  little  faster  each  succeeding  week.  While  he  was 
asked  to  increase  his  speed  as  the  time  for  racing  approached, 
still  I  never  drove  him  any  work  miles  better  than  2:04  or 


174  ^^^    TWO-MINUTE    PACERS 

2:05.  I  always  let  him  finish  through  the  stretch  good  and 
strong  and  a  few  weeks  before  his  time  for  starting  in  a 
race  I  would  work  him  the  last  half  of  his  2:04  or  2:05  miles 
in  about  one  minute.  Then,  with  that  work  he  was  ready 
to  pace  around  2:02  to  2:03  in  a  race.  Then  two  or  three 
races  would  put  him  in  order  to  go  a  mile  better  than  two 
minutes. 

"Of  course,  if  I  had  been  conditioning  him  for  fast  miles, 
only,  or  one  fast  mile  I  would  have  brushed  him  a  little 
more  and  would  have  gone  miles  around  2:02  to  2:03  with 
the  last  half  better  than  one  minute. 

"As  to  his  rigging.  When  he  took  his  record  he  wore 
a  plain  open  bridle  with  over-check  and  snaffle  bit.  He  wore 
a  light  swedge  bar  shoe  in  front  and  each  shoe  weighed  5^/2 
ounces.  The  front  toes  were  3')>^  inches.  He  wore  about 
the  same  behind  except  with  calks  and  the  hind  toes  were 
about  3I/2  inches.  He  also  wore  very  light  shin  and  coronet 
boots  behind.  He  wore  no  boots  at  all  in  front  the  year  he 
took  his  record  of  1:59'^." 

As  Mr.  Geers  indicates  in  his  very  interesting  letter. 
Napoleon  Direct  was  used  as  a  race  horse  during  his  entire 
career  and  it  is  notable  that  while  he  was  a  two-minute  horse 
practically  all  of  the  three  years  he  was  raced,  he  was  never 
shaped  up  for  anything  but  fast  race  miles.  And  those  he 
showed  the  public  in  profusion.  His  record  of  2:02^, 
taken  in  1914  was  not  at  all  a  measure  of  his  speed;  nor 
was  his  record  of  2:00'^  taken  in  1915.  And,  for  that 
matter,  neither  was  his  record  of  1 :59'^.  His  wonderful 
bursts  of  extreme  speed  through  the  stretch  were  the  talk 
of  the  entire  Grand  Circuit  but  it  was  his  racing  ability  that 
made  him  one  of  the  most  popular  pacers  that  has  ever 
appeared. 

His  three  years  on  the  Grand  Circuit  were  all  great 
years  for  him  but  his  final  year  was  one  that  will  never  be 
forgotten.  He  had  no  easy  task,  for  he  had  the  redoubtable 
two-minute  pacer  Single  G  to  show^  his  speed  and  stamina 
against  and  any  pacer  good  enough  to  beat  that  kind  is 
worthy  a  very  high  place  on  the  roll  of  honor. 

Single  G  defeated  him  at  Kalamazoo  but  Mr.  Geers,  pu- 


NAPOLEON    DIRECT  1 75 

pil  compelled  the  pride  of  Indiana  to  pace  the  opening 
mile  in  two  minutes,  beat  him  back  the  second  heat  in  2:01% 
but  lost  the  third  heat  in  2:00%.  And  that  was  the  only 
defeat  of  the  year  for  the  chestnut  stallion.  He  met  Single 
G  in  eight  other  contests,  all  regular  class  races  on  the 
Grand  Circuit  and  was  returned  the  winner  in  all  of  them. 
There  were  other  starters  but  Single  G  was  always  the  horse 
to  be  beaten  and  he  was  nearly  as  good,  most  of  the  time, 
as  ever  in  his  life,  though  he  trained  on  and  won  miles  in 
much  faster  time  than  those  in  which  Napoleon  Direct  de- 
feated him.  But  that  may  not  mean  as  much  as  the  casual 
observer  thinks  for  it  is  doubtedly  true  that  while  but  one 
of  the  Napoleon  Direct-Single  G  miles  was  in  time  better 
than  two  minutes,  both  horses  were  able  to  do  better  than  that. 
Racing  and  going  against  time  are  two  entirely  different 
propositions. 

After  Kalamazoo,  Napoleon  Direct  won  at  Pittsburg  in 
2:0],  2:03V4,  2:031/4.  At  Columbus,  the  summer  meeting, 
he  won  in  l:59-)4,  (his  record  mile)  and  2:01^.  The  fast 
mile  fractional  time  was  30%,  1:01%,  1:30%,  1:593/4, 
making  the  time  for  the  last  half  SSYj  seconds,  a  fair  indica- 
tion of  the  tremenduous  speed  the  horse  possessed.  At  North 
Randall's  second  meeting  he  won  in  2:01%,  2:04%,  2:00%. 
At  Poughkeepsie  his  miles  were  paced  in  2:02%,  2:00%. 
At  Hartford  2:04%,  2:05%,  2:05%,  over  a  heavy  track. 
At  Syracuse  2:00%,  2:04l/>.  At  Columbus,  fall  meeting, 
2:06%,  2:00%  in  the  first  race  and  2:013/4,  2:011/2  i"  the 
second. 

Napoleon  Direct  was  bred  by  Clark  E.  Jones,  of  Colum- 
bia, Tenn.,  and  when  retired  from  racing  was  taken  back  to 
the  place  of  his  nativity. 

While  Napoleon  Direct  is  the  only  performer  that  has 
gone  in  two  minutes  or  better  for  Mr.  Geers,  he  is  by  no 
means  the  only  sensational  performer  that  great  reinsman 
has  developed.  In  fact  it  is  doubtful  if  Napoleon  was  at  all 
necessary  to  the  career  of  the  ''Silent  Man  from  Tennessee," 
though  he  was  the  greatest  pacer  "Pop"  ever  developed. 

Inasmuch  as  Mr.  Geers  celebrated  his  seventy-first  birth- 
day in  January,  1922,  it  follows  that  he  has  been  before  the 


176  THE    TWO-MINUTE    PACERS 

public  in  his  chosen  profession  for  a  great  many  years  and 
as  he  has  always  had  some  good  horses,  sometimes  the  best 
of  their  years,  many  famous  names  are  to  be  found  on  the 
roster  of  the  Geers  stable.  In  the  hustle  and  bustle  of  the 
passing  years  there  is  apt  to  come  a  time  when  the  great 
ones  are  momentarily  forgotten.  Yet  it  is  doubtful  if  many 
ever  think  of  Mr.  Geers  without  recalling  the  great  achieve- 
ments of  Hal  Pointer,  the  first  really  great  pacer  he  cam- 
paigned through  the  Grand  Circuit,  one  of  the  most  wonder- 
ful horses  known  to  pacing  annals. 

It  cannot  be  possible  that  any  one  has  forgotten  Robert 
J.  and  that  Mr.  Geers  drove  him  to  a  world's  record — 2:01% 
— as  long  ago  as  1895.  More  recently  he  made  The  Abbot 
the  world's  champion   trotter  with   a   record   of  2:03^. 

His  list  of  2:10  or  better  trotters  was  quite  a  formidable 
one  when  that  rate  of  speed  was  considered  something  out 
of  the  ordinary.  None  of  the  Old  Guard  will  ever  forget 
the  wonderful  campaigns  of  the  famous  Hamlin's  Nightin- 
gale 2:08  and  it  is  probable  that  this  work  with  her  brought 
Mr.  Geers  more  real  fame  than  his  recent  accomplishment 
with  the  far  more  speedy  St.  Frisco  2:01^,  who  holds  the 
world's  race  record  for  a  trotting  stallion. 

Year  after  year  for  so  many  years  that  it  taxes  the 
memory  he  has  been  a  commanding  figure  among  Grand 
Circuit  trainers.  Every  so  often  he  has  come  along  with  the 
winner  of  the  Chamber  of  Commerce  purse  at  Detroit,  as 
long  as  that  rich  and  much-coveted  event  was  annually  re- 
newed. He  won  it  with  the  sire  of  Napoleon  Direct  and, 
speaking  of  the  Directs  no  one  will  ever  forget  the  great 
campaign  of  Direct  Hal,  another  Geers  pupil  who  became 
one  of  the  popular  idols.  Mr.  Geers  also  drove  Single 
G.  to  a  race  record  of  1:59%. 

His  wonderful  record  seems  destined  to  stand  unsur- 
passed perhaps  not  equaled.  In  one  respect  it  is  certain  that 
his  career  will  stand  alone  and  that  is  in  the  unbounded  love 
and  respect  that  have  come  to  be  his  portion  from  the  many 
thousands  in  every  section  who  admire  the  trotter  and  pacer 
and  the  men  who  make  them.  There  has  been  but  one  Geers 
identified  with  the  great  sport  of  harness  racing. 


She  may  be  uell  compared  unto  the  Phoenix  kind 

Whose  like  nas  neve?-  seen  nor  heard  that  any  man  can  find. 

— John  Heyicood. 


MISS  HARRIS  M. 

World's  Champion  Pacing  Mare 
Record  1:58^ 

[ISS  HARRIS  M.  I:58l4,  the  world's  champion 
pacing  mare,  and  the  first  of  her  sex  to  enter  the 
two-minute  pacing  list  was  bought  at  public  auction 
by  Tommy  Murphy  when  her  record  was  two  minutes  and 
the  purchase  was  made  with  one  object  in  view  and  that  was 
to  give  the  mare  a  race  record  as  far  below  the  two-minute 
mark  as  possible  which  would  carry  with  it,  for  him,  another 
world's  record  and  he  thought  that  sort  of  mark  would  look 
pretty  well  along  with  the  others  he  had.  He  had  just  sold 
Roan  Hal  2:00'^  for  a  long  price  so  he  became  a  bidder 
on  the  mare  and  secured  her  for  $4,500. 

That  was  during  the  winter  of  1917-18  and  the  season 
of  1918  the  mare  did  what  Mr.  Murphy  expected  of  her 
when  he  made  the  purchase.  In  addition  she  raced  pretty 
well  for  him  and  the  race  in  which  she  made  her  best  record 
is  still  in  the  statistics  of  the  harness  turf  as  the  fastest  three 
heat  race  in  which  the  heats  were  split.  It  was  the  memor- 
able contest  at  Toledo,  July  23rd,  which  quite  fittingly  was 
the  first  on  the  program  for  the  first  day  of  the  first  Grand 
Circuit  meeting  ever  held  in  the  metropolis  of  northwestern 
Ohio.  And,  while  Miss  Harris  M.  was  unable  to  win  the 
race,  she  was  the  winner  of  the  first  heat  and  it  still  stands 
as  the  fastest  heat  ever  paced  in  a  regular  event  and  it  is 
further  important  from  the  fact  that  but  one  race  mile  faster 
has  ever  been  put  on  the  records,  that  of  1:58  by  Directum  I. 
in  his  match  with  William  at  Columbus  in  1914.  Further- 
more the  mare  forced  the  winner  of  the  race  to  beat  two  min- 
utes in  each  of  the  next  two  heats  so  that  the  event  is  the 
only  one  of  three  heats  in  which  the  two-minute  mark  was 
beaten  in  every  heat. 


l8o  THE    TWO-MINUTE    PACERS 

That  year  Miss  Harris  M.  started  in  ten  races  of  which 
she  won  six  and  paced  six  heats  in  better  than  2:03  but  in 
most  of  her  starts  there  was  always  a  heat  around  two  min- 
utes. The  fractional  time  of  her  record  mile  affords  an 
interesting  study  in  race  speed.  In  actual  contest  there  is 
a  difference  in  the  rating  as  compared  with  flights  against 
time  for  in  the  race  what  the  other  drivers  are  doing  cuts  no 
small  figure.  In  the  first  heat  of  the  Toledo  race  the  first 
quarter  was  paced  in  thirty  seconds;  the  second  quarter  in 
twenty-nine  seconds;  the  third  quarter  in  30  seconds  and  the 
final  quarter  in  twenty-nine  and  a  quarter  seconds.  Thus,  it 
will  be  seen,  the  mile  was  what  might  correctly  be  termed 
evenly  rated.  In  the  second  mile  there  was  a  different  style 
of  racing.  The  first  quarter  was  paced  in  31^  seconds 
while  the  second  one  was  covered  in  29*^  seconds  and  the 
third  at  exactly  the  two-minute  rate.  From  there  on  the  clip 
increased  until  the  wire  was  reached  and  the  official  time  of 
the  last  quarter  was  281/0  seconds.  The  slow  first  quarter 
was  just  enough  to  account  for  the  ll/j.  seconds  difference  in 
the  time  of  the  two  heats.  Again  in  the  third  heat  the  first 
quarter,  but  311/),  a  2:06  gait  slowed  up  the  mile  but  left 
room  for  a  great  exhibition  of  racing  speed,  for  the  second 
quarter  was  in  291/0  seconds  and  the  third  in  29  seconds  yet 
the  horses  paced  the  last  quarter  in  29')4  seconds.  Two  dif- 
ferent miles  better  than  two  minutes  with  very  slow  first 
quarters  shows  what  great  pacers  Miss  Harris  M.  and  Single 
G.  were  that  day. 

During  the  year  1918  Miss  Harris  M.  met  Single  G  six 
times  and  defeated  him  twice — at  North  Randall  and  at 
Lexington  and  it  was  largely  because  of  her  strenuous  efforts 
that  the  time  in  most  of  the  races  against  the  Indiana  warrior 
were  so  fast.  Mention  has  already  been  made  of  the  Toledo 
world-record  race.  At  Kalamazoo  she  forced  the  G  horse 
to  pace  the  last  two  heats  in  2:00l/>  and  2:01.  At  North 
Randall's  second  meeting  she  forced  him  to  pace  in  2:01 
and  2:02.  She  paced  a  second  heat  over  the  slow  track  at 
Poughkeepsie  in  2:00')4.  Day  and  track  right,  she  was  a 
two-minute  pacer  every  time  she  scored  for  the  word  that 
eventful  year  and  but  for   Single  G  she  would  have  been 


Miss  Harris  M  IrSS^^— Alonzo  McDonald 


MISS    HARRIS    M.  1 83 

the  leader  of  the  free-for-all  division.  That  is  no  faint 
praise  for  it  is  no  disgrace  to  play  second  fiddle  to  any  pacer 
as  good  as  Single  G  was  in  1918  or  has  been  in  any  of  his 
years,  for  the  matter  of  that. 

Miss  Harris  M.  passed  to  the  ownership  of  Mr.  Paul 
Kuhn,  of  Terre  Haute,  Ind.,  at  the  close  of  the  1918  racing 
season  and  was  started  in  a  few  races  in  1919  bv  Mr.  Will 
Fleming  who  raced  her  against  Single  G  twice  and  broke 
even  with  him.  He  won  at  Toledo  but  she  forced  him  to  pace 
the  second  heat  in  1:59%.  She  turned  the  tables  on  him  at 
Columbus  and  paced  the  final  heat,  the  third,  in  2:0034. 
Thus  it  will  be  seen  that  in  all  four  of  her  racing  years  this 
daughter  of  Peter  the  Great  was  a  two-minute  pacer. 

As  she  is  the  world's  champion  pacing  mare  it  follows 
that  she  holds  more  than  one  record.  Those  to  her  credit 
are:  Fastest  mare  1:5814;  fastest  four-year-old  filly, 
2:01^;  fastest  five-year-old  mare,  1:581,4^  fastest  heat  by 
a  mare,  1:5814;  fastest  three-heat  race  by  a  mare,  2:011/4-» 
2:01'>47  2:04l/>.  That  is  sufficient  to  give  her  the  stamp  of 
greatness  and  to  fix  her  place  among  the  many  great  stars 
of  "pacerdom".  It  seems  rather  remarkable  that  the  stal- 
lions continue  to  be  the  greatest  pacers.  They  hold  about  all 
of  the  more  valued  records  and  even  the  geldings,  many  of 
which  are  good  race  horses,  fail  to  race  on  to  the  low 
records.  And  there  are  but  two  pacing  mares  with  records 
of  two-minutes  or  better,  the  other  being  the  Canadian-bred 
Louie  Grattan  whose  record  is  exactly  two  minutes.  Of  the 
fourteen  pacers  in  the  two-minute  list  but  four  are  geldings 
and  the  best  record  held  by  any  one  of  them  is  the  1:59^4  of 
Frank  Bogash. 

In  the  light  of  those  facts  the  achievements  of  Miss 
Harris  M.  stand  out  in  bold  relief  and  stamp  her  a  pacer  far 
above  the  ordinary.  She  was  bred  by  Mr.  A.  T.  Harris, 
Versailles,  Ky.  and  is  by  Peter  the  Great  and  out  of  Maiy 
Allen  Stout  by  Ondale.  It  might  be  added  that  she  is  the 
only  two-minute  performer  to  the  credit  of  Peter  the  Great, 
something  rather  odd  when  one  remembers  the  great  army 
of  exceedingly  fast  trotters  he  has  sired. 

Miss  Harris  M.,  when  but  a  weanling,  became  a  member 


184  THE    TWO-MINUTE    PACERS 

of  the  String  of  Mr.  Alonzo  McDonald,  of  Indianapolis  and 
he  kept  her  until  she  had  taken  a  record  of  exactly  two- 
minutes.  His  brief  story  of  her  life  while  in  his  charge  is 
this: 

"Not  much  was  done  with  her  in  the  way  of  training 
until  she  was  two  years  old.  I  worked  her  on  the  trot  that 
season  and  drove  her  a  mile  in  2:16,  starting  her  in  one 
race — at  Dallas,  Texas,  where  she  won  second  money. 

"As  she  was  a  filly  that  carried  considerable  weight  as 
a  trotter  and  was  inclined  to  pace,  I  shod  her  light  after 
her  Dallas  race  and  started  her  as  a  pacer.  I  wintered  my 
horses  at  Los  Angeles,  Cal.,  and  it  gave  me  a  good  chance  to 
work  her.  That  was  the  year  of  the  harness  races  at  the 
San  Franciso  Exposition  and  I  started  her  at  the  June  meet- 
ing when  she  was  three.  She  won  money  in  the  race  and 
paced  in  2:10l/>. 

"She  raced  well  for  me  in  the  pacing  futurities  on  the 
Grand  Circuit  and  won  second  money  in  The  Horseman 
Stake,  raced  at  Indianapolis  and  also  won  second  money  in 
The  Horse  Review  Stake,  raced  at  Columbus.  In  both  events 
the  time  was  as  good  as  2:0414- 

"I  then  sold  her  to  Mr.  S.  A.  Fletcher,  of  Indianapolis, 
and  raced  her  for  him  the  two  following  years,  which  was 
until  she  was  sold.  As  a  four-year-old  she  won  all  of  the 
important  pacing  stakes  on  the  Grand  Circuit  and  in  the 
Chamber  of  Commerce  at  Detroit  she  defeated  what  I  think 
was  the  best  field  of  pacers  that  ever  raced.  The  time  of 
the  three  miles  was  2:0114,  2:01^^,  2:041^. 

"As  a  five-year-old  she  won  seven  straight  free-for-all 
races  and  raced  several  heats  close  to  two  minutes.  The 
last  race  I  drove  her  in  was  a  match  with  Hal  Boy  at  Atlanta, 
which  she  won  and  entered  the  two-minute  list. 

"She  wore  plain  rigging  and  ordinary  boots  for  pro- 
tection. I  shod  her  with  seven  ounce  bars  shoes  in  front, 
with  leather  rim  pads.  She  carried  two  ounce  toe  weights. 
Behind  she  wore  four  ounce  swedge  shoes. 

"There  never  was  a  better  headed  mare  nor  a  more  per- 
fect race  mare.  She  was  always  ready  and  willing  to  do 
her  best." 


TO 


o 

o 


o 


Be  Mercury;  set  feathers  to  thy  heels 
And  fly  like   thought. 

— Shakespeare, 


PRINCE  LOREE 

Champion  Double-Gaited  Performer 
2:00  Pacing;  2:03V4  Trotting 

RINCE  LOREE  2:00  pacing,  2:031/4  trotting,  the 
world's  double  gaited  champion,  was  rescued  from 
the  discard  and  made  a  stake-winning  trotter  and  a 
two-minute  pacer  by  Mike  McDevitt,  of  Berea,  a  suburb  of 
Cleveland  and  was  given  his  record  at  both  gaits  without 
hobbles.  He  was  bought  for  Capt.  David  Shaw  and  raced  in 
his  colors.  This  brown  gelding  figured  in  the  transaction 
which  made  both  him  and  Lee  Axworthy  1:58^4  members 
of  the  Pastime  Stable.  Prince  Loree  had  something  the  mat- 
ter with  him.  The  doctors  disagreed  and  so  it  came  about 
that  the  colt  was  put  into  a  public  vendue  that  Homer  J. 
Kline  conducted  for  the  Pastime  Stable  and  others  at  the 
North  Randall  race  track  in  the  late  fall  of  1915  and  was 
sold,  on  a  cold,  miserable  day  in  the  presence  of  about  fifty 
people,  to  Mr.  A.  C.  Pennock,  for  $50.  The  bid  was  intended 
to  be  a  complimentary  one  as  the  gentleman  who  made  it  did 
not  want  the  colt  nor  expect  to  get  him  on  that  bid.  It  was, 
however,  not  raised  and  the  bidder  paid  for  his  purchase. 
Late  in  January  1916  Mr.  McDevitt  bought  Prince  Loree  for 
$120  and  Capt.  Shaw  advised  turning  him  out  for  a  year. 

'T  did  not  buy  him  to  turn  out,  I  bought  him  to  race"  was 
the  reply  of  Mr.  McDevitt  and  so  the  brown  "pony"  was 
sent  to  school.  The  story  of  his  education,  as  told  by  Mr. 
McDevitt  for  publication  in  this  volume  is  this: 

"He  was  always  a  funny  horse.  We  had  to  get  him 
civilized  before  we  could  do  anything  with  him.  We  passed 
that  job  up  to  Mr.  Dutton,  our  training  stable  superinten- 
dent, who  wouldn't  'take  hold'  of  a  horse  if  he  was  going  to 
run  through  fire.     I  guess  they  had  used  ropes  and  about 


1 88  THE    TWO-MINUTE    PACERS 

everything  on  the  little  horse.  It  was  said  he  threw  his  stifle 
out  sometimes  when  he  was  worked.  He  never  did  but  they 
believed  he  did  and  blistered  him  to  cure  him  of  it  and  as 
they  made  the  blister  very  severe  they  always  tied  his  tail 
with  a  rope  to  an  overhead  stringer  when  they  applied  it. 
That  left  it  awfully  sore  and  when  I  got  him  it  was  so  sensi- 
tive that  when  he  switched  it  and  hit  the  shaft  he  would  nearly 
go  crazy  with  the  pain. 

"Well,  Mr.  Button  just  jogged  him  to  heavy  cart  and  let 
him  'slop  around,'  as  he  said  it.  Then  Capt.  Shaw  took  a 
great  fancy  to  him  and  as  part  of  his  education  he  drove  him 
in  the  matinees  at  North  Randall  all  summer,  giving  him  a 
record  of  2:07'^,  the  best  of  the  year  for  that  track  at  mati- 
nee racing.  And  he  fed  him  sugar  every  day  and  that  helped 
to  civilize  him.  I  seldom  sat  behind  him  except  on  the 
days  when  I  wanted  him  to  step.  The  alleged  ailment  never 
bothered  him  at  all  except  in  the  stall  when  his  stifle  muscles 
would  sometimes  cramp  the  same  as  a  man's  legs  often  cramp 
while  he  is  in  bed.  He  always  had  the  cleanest  legs  you 
ever  saw. 

"He  was  the  oddest  horse  in  the  world  about  his  feet. 
If  there  was  one  shaving  too  much  off^  of  a  foot  he  was  un- 
balanced. He  did  not  need  so  much  weight  but  must  have 
the  right  length  and  the  proper  angle.  As  a  trotter  he  wore 
7  ounce  swedge  shoes  in  front  with  3  ounce  toe  weights;  the 
toe  was  3%^  inches  and  the  angle  47^/2.  Behind  his  shoes 
were  3  ounce  plain  with  3^  toe  and  53  angle.  His  rigging 
was  a  plain  bit,  check  as  loose  as  could  be  worn,  elbow  boots. 

"We  tried  him  out  as  a  pacer  for  the  reason  that  when 
he  won  the  Transylvania  he  took  a  race  record  of  2:031/4  ^^^ 
that  meant  there  would  be  no  classes  to  speak  of  for  him  at 
the  trot.  I  told  Capt.  Shaw  if  he  would  let  me  put  him  to 
pacing  I  would  give  him  a  record  as  fast  as  his  trotting  rec- 
ord. He  said  he  did  not  believe  I  could  do  it  but  finally 
agreed  and  let  me  have  my  way.  And  I  might  say  that 
making  a  pacer  out  of  Prince  Loree  put  a  lot  of  these  white 
hairs  in  my  head. 

"All  my  best  friends,  following  their  best  judgment,  gave 
me  their  advice  regularly.     Some  would  say  to  use  a  lot 


PRINCE    LOREE  I  89 

of  weight — my  good  friend  Jim  Clark  was  one  of  them  and 
he  was  sincere  about  it,  so  were  all  the  rest.  The  case  had 
me  puzzled  because  the  little  fellow  had  sometimes  shifted 
to  the  pace  in  his  trotting  races  and  that  made  it  look  easy 
to  convert  him.  One  night  as  I  lay  in  bed  I  heard  the  rain 
pattering  on  the  roof  and  I  said  to  myself  that  the  track  would 
be  hea\y  the  next  day  and  I  would  try  an  experiment. 

"I  will  take  him  to  the  shop,  pull  his  shoes  and  work  him 
barefooted.  And  I  did.  I  shortened  his  toes  up  all  round 
and  went  out  with  no  shoes  and  no  check  and  he  was  a  pacer 
right  then.  After  that  I  shod  him  with  3  ounce  running 
horse  shoes  all  round,  his  toes  as  short  as  I  could  get  them; 
no  boots  and  his  head  carried  the  same  as  when  he  trotted. 
You  never  could  fool  with  his  head.  He  wanted  to  go  with- 
out any  rigging  and  a  heavy-handed  man  could  not  drive  him 
at  all  because  just  as  soon  as  he  was  taken  hold  of  he  began 
to  mix  in  his  gait. 

"No  tougher  horse,  I  mean  no  more  enduring  horse,  was 
ever  raced.  Why  did  he  fail  as  a  pacer?  Just  simply  this: 
He's  got  too  much  brains — he  did  not  like  it;  he  said:  'I've 
paced  as  far  as  I'm  going  to  pace'  and  he  passed  the  gait 
up.  I  have  said  he  was  a  funny  horse.  That  is  not  quite 
right.  He  was  a  great  horse.  I  think  my  wife  is  the 
greatest  woman  in  the  world,  but  I  get  along  with  her  by 
letting  her  have  her  own  way.  That  taught  me  how  to  devel- 
op Prince  Loree.  I  found  that  I  could  get  him  to  do  things 
by  letting  him  have  his  own  way  in  certain  other  things.  So 
when  he  decided  to  quit  pacing  I  let  him  have  his  own  wav. 

"I  expected  great  things  of  him  in  the  mile  at  Lexington 
where  he  took  his  best  pacing  record  but  the  day  after  the 
race  he  was  seriously  sick  of  distemper  so  he  could  not  have 
been  in  condition  to  do  even  as  much  as  he  did.  To  get  him 
ready  for  that  effort  I  worked  him  some  miles  at  North  Ran- 
dall in  2:031/2  to  2:04  and  one,  only,  in  2:003/4.  Then  I 
shipped  him  to  Syracuse  to  give  him  a  fair  mile  and  he 
paced  in  2:0214.  Then  I  sent  him  to  Columbus  and  there  I 
worked  him  a  mile  in  two  minutes,  going  around  a  lot  of 
other  horses  and  the  track  harrow  and  I  figured  that  he 
would  go  a  mile  at  Lexington  as  fast  as  any  pacer  had  ever 


190  THE    TWO-MINUTE    PACERS 

gone.  But  he  was  off  and  besides  the  runner  that  went  with 
him  stopped  up  the  stretch  at  the  finish  and  the  little  fellow 
did  what  he  always  did  when  he  had  no  competition — just 
loafed  the  rest  of  the  way  to  the  wire. 

"He  won  the  Edwards  Stake  at  North  Randall  in  1921, 
and  also  won  at  Toledo,  but  he  very  soon  showed  that  he 
did  not  care  for  the  new  idea  and  that  ended  his  career  as 
a  pacer.  It  was  just  a  matter  of  the  gait,  that  is  what  he  did 
not  like  for  he  was  always  a  very  steady,  reliable  horse  as 
a  trotter.  And  he  is  just  like  a  big  dog  around  the  barn,  he  is 
so  good  natured  and  a  better  feeder  never  lived.  I  will 
always  believe  that  the  thing  that  made  him  cramp  in  the 
stifle  was  a  faulty  operation  when  he  was  made  a  gelding  and 
that  is  all  there  is  to  it,  and  that  little  mishap  is  what  even- 
tually enabled  me  to  get  a  stake  trotter  for  $120." 

Mr.  McDevitt's  story,  so  graphically  told,  leaves  nothing 
to  be  added  so  far  as  the  training  of  Prince  Loree  is  con- 
cerned. But — if  this  were  a  collection  of  tales  of  the  turf, 
page  upon  page  could  be  filled  with  stories  of  the  brilliant 
doings  of  the  little  brown  pony  who  added  to  the  wonderful 
history  of  the  Capt.  Shaw  stable  that  had  been  made  by 
Lillian  R.,  Joan  and  Grace  as  well  as  Peter  Mac  and  others. 

One  of  those  stories  must  not  be  omitted.  It  concerns 
the  foray  of  the  little  trotter  into  and  out  of  the  "bushes," 
in  1918  his  race  in  which  he  defeated  a  good  field  in  the 
mud  and  while  the  race  was  in  such  slow  time  as  2:181/4, 
it  took  so  much  out  of  him  that  he  was  distanced  the  next 
week  at  Canton. 

And  then  a  feat  unparalleled  in  the  annals  of  the  trotter. 
Mr.  McDevitt  put  him  in  a  box  car  and  ticketed  him  for 
Syracuse,  N.  Y.,  and  then  told  his  owner  what  he  had  done. 
Let  us  pass  over  the  scene  that  ensued.  The  intent  of  the 
box  car  journey  was  to  meet  an  engagement  in  the  Empire 
State  purse  of  $10,000  for  trotters.  The  only  apparent  ex- 
cuse for  the  venture  was  that  the  entry  had  been  made  and 
was  fully  paid  up.  Evidently  l)ox  car  and  occupant  reached 
Syracuse  in  prime  order,  for  the  records  tell  that  the  "pas- 
senger" won  the  big  stake,  beating  a  large  field  including 
the  redoubtable  Ante  Guy.     It  is  said  that  Mr.  McDevitt  was 


PRINCE    LOREE  IQI 

fully  and  freely  forgiven  when  the  late  Harry  Neely  wired 
Capt.  Shaw  the  result  of  the  race. 

And  following  the  Syracuse  race  Prince  Loree  went 
jauntily  about  his  business  and  won  first  money  in  the  $10,000 
trot  at  Columbus,  giving  him  the  honor  of  winning  two  of  the 
three  purses  of  the  year  of  that  goodly  size. 

He  tried  for  the  Transylvania  in  1918  and  Royal  Mac 
and  others  beat  him.  He  went  back  the  next  year  for  the 
same  event,  defeated  Royal  Mac  and  won  the  coveted  prize. 
He  won  the  Tavern  Stake  the  same  year  at  North  Randall. 
He  was  a  busy  and  a  highly  successful  trotter.  And  it  might 
be  added  that  he  is  the  only  trotter  that  was  sold  for  a  fairly 
long  price,  discarded  and  sold  for  $50  and  in  spite  of  all 
his  adversities  became  a  Grand  Circuit  stake  winner  and 
the  holder  of  two  world's  records  for  trotters,  which  he  was 
at  the  close  of  the  racing  season  of  1919.  One  was  the  green 
gelding  record  of  2:051/4,  held  jointly  with  Just  David  and 
the  other  was  the  fastest  race  heat  by  a  gelding — 2:03^/4, 
held  jointly  with  Early  Dreams.  The  latter  has  since  been 
lowered  by  Peter  Manning  to  2:02l/>  and  in  1921  to  2:021/4 
by  Greyworthy. 

The  fractional  time  of  his  record  mile  at  the  pace  which 
made  him  the  world's  champion  double-gaited  performer  was 
30,  5934,  1:30,  2:00. 

Prince  Loree  was  foaled  in  1911,  was  bred  by  the  late 
J.  H.  Shults,  at  Portchester,  N.  Y.,  and  was  sired  by  Prince 
McKinney  and  his  dam  was  the  noted  trotter  Deloree  2:091/4, 
a  daughter  of  Axtell's  great  performer,  Elloree  2:08l/o. 
Walter  Cox  says  that  Prince  Loree  was  a  long  ways  the  fast- 
est trotting  colt  he  had  ever  sat  behind  and  as  he  was  to  go, 
when  he  sold  him,  into  the  hands  of  W.  J.  Andrews,  Walter 
expected  great  things  of  the  youngster.  Failure  to  solve 
the  problem  of  his  stifle  muscle  ''kink"  made  Prince  Loree 
almost  an  outcast  as  has  already  been  told. 


fa 


> 


o 
o 


o 


Here  comes  the  lady,  oh,  so  light  of  foot 
Will  ne'er  near  out  the  everlasting  flint. 

— Shakespeare. 


LOUIE  GRATTAN 

Champion  Canadian-Bred  Pacing  Mare 
Record  2:00 

OLIE  GRATTAN  2:00,  the  fastest  Canadian-bred 
mare,  enjoys  a  unique  position  among  the  two  minute 
performers  in  that  she  is  the  only  one  to  have  paced 
two  consecutive  heats  in  a  race  in  exactly  two  minutes  each. 
She  is  one  of  the  only  two  mares  that  have  so  far  enrolled 
their  names  among  the  ultra-select.  Miss  Harris  M.  1:58149 
being  the  other.  And  that  calls  to  mind  the  peculiar  fact 
that  of  the  twenty  two  minute  performers  to  the  close  of 
he  racing  season  of  1921  but  three  are  of  the  "gentler"  sex, 
the  third  one  is  the  pioneer  two  minute  performer,  Lou 
Dillon  1 :58y25  ^^ho  ^^^  reigned  as  queen  of  the  trotting 
turf  since  1903,  no  other  mare  of  her  gait  having  beaten 
2:0114-  Yet,  despite  the  fact  that  the  stallions  and  geldings 
have  taken  most  of  the  honors  among  the  holders  of  the  best 
records,  the  world's  race  record  for  trotters  is  held  by  a 
mare,  Hamburg  Belle  2:0114,  and  the  best  pacing  record 
in  a  regular  race  is  held  by  Miss  Harris  M.  1:5814' 

Mr.  Vic.  Fleming,  of  Dundas,  Ont.,  Canada,  who  trained 
and  drove  Louie  Grattan,  tells  this  brief  story  of  her  career 
in  his  hands: 

"In  1918  I  inquired  from  different  parties  where  there 
was  a  good  pacer  in  Canada,  as  there  has  always  been  a 
good  one  show  every  year  and  all  I  talked  to  said  there  was 
nothing  of  any  account  that  year. 

"I  went  to  Mt.  Clemens,  Mich.,  to  the  fall  meeting,  fol- 
lowing Lexington,  and  saw  a  mare  called  Louie  Grattan  start 
there.  Let  me  tell  you,  she  could  fly.  But  in  spite  of  the  fact" 
that  she  acted  awfully  bad  I  thought  she  was  the  making 


196  THE    TWO-MINUTE    PACERS 

of  the  best  pacer  I  had  ever  had,  if  one  could  get  her  man- 
nered. 

"I  bought  her  about  a  month  later  for  Mr.  J.  A.  Mclrvine, 
of  Gait,  Ontario,  for  $3,000.  We  took  her  to  Mt.  Clemens 
that  winter  and  raced  her  over  the  ice,  and  in  her  race  she 
acted  bad  and  lost  the  first  two  heats  but  went  on  and  won 
the  next  three  and  the  race.  Then  we  shipped  her  home  to 
Gait,  where  she  was  prepared  and  we  staked  her  over  the 
half  mile  tracks.  She  won  two  or  three  of  her  early  stake 
starts  but  continued  to  be  a  very,  very  bad  actor. 

"We  at  last  concluded  that  she  might  become  a  better 
actor  if  raced  on  the  mile  tracks  and  in  acting  on  that  con- 
clusion we  shipped  her  to  North  Randall  for  the  second 
Grand  Circuit  meeting  and  she  arrived  there  about  ten  days 
before  she  was  to  race.  I  worked  her  in  2:03'%|^  but  in  her 
race  she  was  again  bad  mannered  and  got  beat  in  2:051/4. 

"Mr.  Mclrvine  sold  her  that  night  for  $1,000  to  Mr. 
Robert  Merrigold,  of  Hamilton,  Ontario,  and  we  shipped  her 
back  to  the  half-mile  tracks  and  won  the  rest  of  the  stakes  in 
which  she  was  engaged.  Then  we  tried  the  mile  tracks  again. 
At  the  Columbus  fall  meeting  she  was  beaten  in  2:0314  ^^ 
her  first  race.  Before  I  started  her  the  following  week  I 
found  she  was  brushing  one  of  her  knees  and  so  I  went  at 
her  shoeing  and  had  some  changes  made.  I  had  her  feet 
made  perfectly  level  and  also  equipped  her  with  a  pair 
of  heavier  knee  boots. 

"The  changes  must  have  done  her  good  for  when  T 
started  her  the  next  week,  the  second  week  of  the  meeting, 
she  won  in  2:031/4.  When  we  took  her  on  to  Lexington  and 
she  won  both  of  her  races.  We  then  went  on  to  Atlanta  and 
she  won  her  race  there. 

"That  ended  her  first  season's  campaign  in  our  stable 
and  we  took  her  back  to  Canada  and  jogged  her  all  winter 
and  in  the  spring  prepared  for  another  Grand  Circuit  cam- 
paign. After  her  first  race  at  Columbus,  she  seemed  to 
change  her  view  of  things  generally,  for  from  that  time  on, 
she  was  always  a  good  actor  and  made  no  trouble  at  all. 

"She  wore  hopples,  shadow  roll,  knee  boots  and  side 
pole.     Her  bridle  was  an  open  one,  the  bit  a  Blue  Ribbon. 


LOUIE    GRATTAN  1 97 

She  was  checked  just  medium  but  wore  no  check  bit,  just 
a  strap  under  her  chin. 

"Her  feet  were  level  all  around  and  the  length  of  front 
toes  was  3->>>  inches,  her  hind  toes  3%  inches.  She  wore 
five  ounce  sharp  swedged  shoes  in  front  and  four  ounce  half 
swedged,  half-round   shoes  behind. 

"Her  disposition  was  rather  funny.  She  was  rather 
nervous  and  she  appeared  to  have  no  affection  for  any  one 
in  particular  and  did  not  like  to  have  many  people  around 
her  so  on  race  days  we  tried  to  get  her  in  a  stall  where  there 
would  not  be  many  around  her.  The  day  at  Lexington  when 
she  took  her  record,  we  took  her  to  the  paddock  after  the 
first  warming-up  mile  but  had  to  move  her  right  out  because 
of  the  crowd  around  her  and  the  noise  overhead.  I  had  to 
get  permission  from  the  judges  to  cool  her  out  in  a  near-by 
barn. 

"The  day  we  went  to  buy  her  she  was  in  a  big  stall  and 
was  so  nervous  when  she  saw  strangers  that  it  took  three 
of  us  to  get  a  halter  on  her. 

"But  she  was  one  of  the  best  feeders  I  ever  trained  and 
would  eat  at  any  time  or  any  place  on  or  off  cars." 

Mr.  Fleming  says  nothing  of  Louie  Grattan's  record 
race  which  was  at  Lexington,  Ky.,  October  8th,  1920.  The 
other  starters  were  Sanardo,  Directum  J.,  Single  G,  Royal 
Earl  and  Gladys  B.  The  Canadian  champion  won  both 
heats  in  the  same  time — two  minutes  and  the  fractional  time 
was:  29V2,  5914,  1:29'>^,  2:00— SOV^,  1:001/.,  1:30%, 
2:00  showing  her  ability  to  step  either  end  of  a  fast  mile  at 
better  than  two -minute  speed. 

She  started  out  well  for  the  racing  season  of  1921  and 
was  a  factor  in  the  free-for-all  races  at  North  Randall  and 
Kalamazoo,  forcing  Single  G  to  a  mile  in  2:001/0  at  the  latter 
place.  At  Toledo  the  first  mile  was  paced  in  two  minutes 
and  she  was  second.  At  the  Columbus  Summer  meeting  she 
started  against  Single  G,  Hal  M.  and  Sanardo  and  was  sec- 
ond the  first  heat  but  did  not  race  so  well  the  remaining  two 
heats.  The  next  day  she  died  quite  suddenly  and  thus  ended 
the  career  of  Canada's  greatest  pacing  mare  and  one  of  the 
onlv  two  of  her  sex  in  the  two  minute  list. 


198  THE    TWO-MINUTE    PACERS 

The  racing  career  of  this  good  Canadian  mare  was  one 
that  would  be  a  credit  to  any  pacer.  Her  opponents  were 
always  the  best  in  her  class  along  the  Grand  Circuit  and 
included  the  celebreties  most  of  the  time  as  is  shown  by  those 
mentioned  above  that  were  beaten  by  her  in  the  race  which 
gave  her  a  two-minute  record.  There  never  was  any  question 
as  to  her  courage  and  when  she  became  a  good  acting  per- 
former she  could  be  relied  upon  to  go  to  the  limit  of  her 
speed  and  endurance  whenever  called  upon. 

She  is  the  fastest  performer  descending  in  the  direct 
line  from  Wilkes  Boy,  her  sire  being  a  grandson  of  that 
noted  progenitor.  It  might  be  noted  in  this  connection  that 
the  world's  champion  trotter  gets  the  same  blood  through  the 
sire  of  his  dam  who  is  a  son  of  Grattan  (son  of  Wilkes  Boy) 
as  is  the  sire  of  Louie  Grattan. 

Louie  Grattan  was  a  foal  of  1913  and  was  a  bay  mare 
by  Grattan  Royal — Camilla  by  J.  L  Case  and  was  bred  by 
Mr.  W.  H.  Taylor,  Park  Hill,  Ont.,  Canada. 


'Ti 


Moving  light,  as  all  young  things 
As  young  birds  or  early  icheat 
IP  hen  the  ivind  blows  o'er  it. 

— Elizabeth  Barrett  Broivning. 


SANARDO 

Fastest  Racing  Gelding  of  1921 
Record  1  -'SQ^ 

ANARDO  1 :  59*^/4,  world's  champion  free-legged 
pacing  gelding,  took  his  record  in  the  second  heat 
of  a  race  at  Syracuse,  N.  Y.,  in  1921,  and  was  the 
fourteenth  of  his  gait  to  find  a  place  in  the  two  minute  list. 
He  was  bred  for  a  trotter  and  in  his  colthood  an  effort  was 
made  to  educate  him  to  go  that  gait  but  he  had  other  ideas, 
apparently,  for  the  attempt  met  with  no  encouragement  from 
him  and  the  job  was  abandoned.  He  has  had  no  other  edu- 
cator than  Tommy  Murphy,  who  says  of  him: 

"He  just  would  not  learn  to  trot.  He  was  a  natural  pacer 
and  pace  he  would,  no  amount  of  care,  no  coaching,  no  shoe- 
ing and  no  rigging  had  any  appreciable  effect  on  him.  He 
was  of  the  same  mind  about  trotting,  I  suppose  as  Mike 
McDevitt  says  Prince  Loree  was  about  pacing.  He  did  not 
like  the  gait,  or  else  he  could  net  acquire  it,  or  it  was  too 
hard  for  him,  or  something  else.  He  would  not  learn  and  so 
I  stopped  trying  to  teach  him  to  trot  and  let  him  have  his 
own  way  as  to  gait,  rigged  him  accordingly  and  he  very  soon 
made  a  very  fast  pacer. 

"There  is  nothing  to  tell  about  him  except  what  you 
will  find  in  the  records  and  that  is  not  a  little  for  he  has  been 
a  very  busy  horse  for  three  years,  beginning  with  1919. 
He  is  a  great  racing  tool  for  what  he  can  do  and  as  he 
was  compelled  to  show  very  close  to  two  minute  speed  in  his 
very  first  campaign  and  in  his  second  and  third  had  to  be 
raced  where  nothing  short  of  that  would  get  any  amount  of 


202  THE    TWO-MINUTE    PACERS 

money  there  is  ample  evidence  that  he  has  been  one  of  the 
very  best  of  racing  pacers,  although  there  have  been  some, 
scattered  along  the  years,  that  were  faster  than  he  has  yet 
shown.  He  has  probably  paced  as  many  fast  race  miles  as 
any  other  pacer  with  the  probable  exception  of  Single  G  for, 
as  I  have  already  said,  he  has  been  kept  quite  busy  and 
the  mile  I  drove  him  in  2:02^  at  Syracuse,  in  1918,  merely 
for  a  record  one  at  the  same  track  in  2:01^  in  1920,  and 
one  at  Atlanta  in  1:59'^,  are  his  only  heats  against  time." 
As  Mr.  Murphy  says,  Sanardo  most  surely  has  been  kept 
quite  busy  and  his  list  of  race  starts  has  grown  to  be  quite 
formidable.  When  his  education  at  the  pace  appeared  to 
have  reached  a  stage  satisfactory  to  himself  and  to  his 
trainer  he  was  entered  in  many  stakes  through  the  Grand 
Circuit  and,  having  shown,  in  1918  that  he  had  the  neces- 
sary speed  and  manners,  by  his  mile  at  Syracuse,  he  was 
quite  naturally  expected  to  render  a  good  account  for  him- 
self at  the  races.  It  is  but  simple  truth  to  say  that  he  did 
quite  well  for  he  ended  the  season  with  a  race  record,  in  a 
winning  effort,  of  2:00^,  which  made  him  the  champion 
five-year-old  pacing  gelding,  as  well  as  the  champion  free- 
legged  pacing  gelding. 

While  circumstances  have  combined  to  deprive  Sanardo 
of  the  bravos  that  are  bestowed  upon  most  two  minute  per- 
formers, it  is  safe  to  say  that  in  the  distant  future  when  the 
student  of  the  history  of  light-harness  racing  comes  to  the 
career  of  the  dapper,  unsexed  son  of  San  Francisco,  he  will 
more  than  pause  to  scan  it,  for  he  will  discover  that  up  to 
his  time,  at  least,  there  were  few  that  were  more  reliable,  not 
many  did  more  to  make  race  history  and  none  that  were  more 
useful.  When  he  got  around  to  it  the  speed  and  courage 
of  a  Single  G  were  necessary  to  encompass  his  defeat  and, 
as  will  be  seen  as  the  reader  goes  on  with  this  sketch,  he  was 
the  one  that  made  the  winner  of  the  fastest  three  consecutive 
pacing  heats  "go  out  and  do  it."  Many  who  are  not  close 
observers  entirely  overlook  the  second  horse  in  a  great  race, 
but  there  would  be  no  great  races  if  he  were  not  there  and 
while  no  one  would  attempt  to  rob  the  winner  of  a  record- 
breaking,  record-making  race  of  an  iota  of  the  credit  due 


SANARDO  203 

him,  there  is  always  glory  enough  to  reach  all  concerned 
and  certainly  the  second  horse  must  have  his  just  share  and 
that  share  is  a  liberal  one,  always.  So,  we  say,  while  San- 
ardo  has  not  been  praised  in  song  and  story  to  any  great  ex- 
tent, those  who  know  race-horse  quality  have  all  along  given 
him  the  praise  that  is  justly  his  and  that  is  no  small  portion. 
He  has  been  a  worthy  representative  of  a  great  tribe  albeit 
he  declined  to  adopt  the  gait  to  which  he  was  supposed  to  be 
bred. 

It  may  be  well,  at  this  point,  to  put  in  something  in  the 
way  of  details  as  to  the  racing  career  of  this  gelding  who  is 
a  champion  and  as  the  pages  are  turned  it  will  be  disclosed 
that  what  has  been  said  heretofore  is  in  no  sense  fulsome 
praise  but  a  deserved  tribute  to  a  great  little  horse. 

His  first  start  was  made  at  North  Randall,  July,  1919, 
and  with  the  exception  of  a  special  against  John  R.  Braden 
and  others  at  Allentown,  Pa.,  in  1920,  he  has  done  his  big 
game  hunting  entirely  on  the  Grand  Circuit. 

After  a  careful  preparation  with  the  Grand  Circuit  stake 
races  in  view  Sanardo  was  taken  to  the  races,  for  the  first 
time,  in  1919  and  in  the  course  of  that  season  was  a  starter 
and,  with  the  exception  of  one  event,  a  real  contender  in 
fourteen  races  in  which  the  time  of  the  heats  ranged  from 
2:001/2  to  2:0914  but  mostly  better  than  2:06.  He  won 
ten  of  the  sixteen  and  in  the  fourteenth  took  a  record  of 
2:00^,  which  was  then  and  at  the  beginning  of  1922,  still 
remains  the  world's  record  for  a  five-year-old  pacing  geld- 
ing. That  race  was  one  of  the  best  ever  paced  anywhere. 
As  already  stated,  Sanardo  won  the  opening  heat  in  2:00^; 
the  second  went  to  Adioo  Guy  in  2:00'^4  ^i^^  Sanardo  won  the 
third  and  final  round  in  2:031/^,  making  the  average  time 
of  the  three  heats  a  trifle  slower  than  2:011^.  The  following 
week  he  beat  Adioo  Guy  in  straight  heats,  pacing  the  opening 
one  in  2:0114  and  at  Atlanta  he  paced  the  second  heat  in 
2:01,  when  he  gained  a  three  heat  victory  over  Grace  Direct. 
The  season  was  a  most  successful  one,  despite  a  few  unex- 
pected obstacles  which  included  the  good  Goldie  Todd  and 
Roy  Grattan  as  well  as  Grace  Direct.  But  he  triumphed  on  a 
majority  of  his  public  appearances. 


204  THE    TWO-MINUTE    PACERS 

The  campaign  of  1920  was  just  as  creditable  to  Sanardo 
as  was  that  which  he  made  the  previous  year,  though  the 
rewards  were  by  no  means  so  great.  There  was  no  class  but 
the  free-for-all  for  him,  with  his  record  of  2:00l/()  and  the 
perennial  Single  G  was  to  be  reckoned  with.  The  fortunes 
of  war  found  that  great  pacer  as  good  as  ever,  perhaps  im- 
proved and  Sanardo  was  able  to  score  a  victory  over  him 
but  once  and  that  was  at  Columbus.  But  his  most  sparkling 
performance  was  a  losing  effort.  Of  that  more  will  be  said 
a  little  further  along  for  it  is  well  worthy  extended  mention. 

His  starts  for  the  season  numbered  eleven  in  races  and 
once  against  time  and  his  name  was  placed  at  the  head  of 
the  summary  in  five.  He  got  away  to  a  bad  start,  so  to  speak, 
and  in  his  first  two  races  was  not  at  anything  near  his  best. 
But  he  had  his  right  foot  forward  in  his  third  start,  which 
was  at  Columbus  and  there  he  scored  over  Single  G.  The 
first  mile  was  paced  in  the  always  creditable  time  of  2:01 
and  Single  G  was  the  winner.  In  the  second  heat  a  stretch 
brush  of  amazing  swiftness  gave  the  victory  to  Sanardo  and 
he  won  the  third  heat  in  slow  time.  The  second  mile  was  in 
2:03^/)  and  the  final  quarter  was  in  29l/>  seconds.  He  won 
at  Toledo's  second  meeting  and  won  at  Readville  and  Hart- 
ford. To  add  to  his  experiences  he  was  taken  to  Allentown, 
Pa.,  to  try  conclusions  over  the  half-mile  track  there  with 
some  of  the  pacers  who  had  been  making  history  over  the 
minor  ovals.  John  R.  Braden  won  the  first  heat  in  2:061/4 
and  Sanardo  wound  up  the  entertainment  by  winning  the 
second  and  third  heats,  pacing  each  of  them  in  2:05'%^, 
which  was  a  pretty  fair  performance  for  a  pacer  who  had 
no  half-mile  track  experience.  After  that  he  was  taken  to 
Columbus  and  was  beaten  that  time  by  Single  G.  Then  he 
paced  two  of  the  best  races  of  his  career,  one  of  them,  already 
merely  referred  to,  about  the  best  he  has  so  far  paced.  The 
first  one  was  at  Lexington.  In  it  he  was  second  in  both  heats 
to  Louie  Grattan,  forcing  her  to  pace  each  heat  in  exactly 
two  minutes.  The  time  of  those  miles  by  quarters  will  show 
that  there  was  some  pacing  speed  on  tap.  The  first  half  of 
the  first  mile  was  paced  in  59^  seconds  and  the  last  half  of 
the  second  mile  was  also  covered  at  that  rate  and  at  the  end 


SANARDO  205 

of  both  Louie  Grattaii  had  "a  shade"  as  the  newspaper  deci- 
sion of  a  boxing  match  has  it. 

The  race  at  Atlanta  is  the  one  heretofore  mentioned  as 
a  great  performance  for  a  loser.  Again  it  was  Single  G 
to  start  against.  There  may  be  something  in  the  belief  that 
certain  horses  get  cunning  enough  to  discover  those  they  can 
defeat  and  will  come  to  the  point  at  which  they  refuse  to 
try  against  them.  Maybe  Sanardo  is  "horse  blind"  and 
cannot  distinguish  between  the  ones  he  can  beat  and  the 
ones  that  are  his  masters.  At  all  events  he  appeared  to  have 
lost  none  of  his  courage,  for  at  the  end  of  the  argument  it 
was  found  that  he  had  forced  the  winner  to  set  a  new  world's 
record  for  three  consecutive  heats, — that  is,  three  heats  won 
by  one  horse, — and  the  figures  were  1:59,  2:00,  2:001/4. 
Mr.  Ed.  Allen,  who  drove  Single  G  in  that  race,  testifies 
in  his  story  of  Single  G  elsewhere  in  this  volume,  that 
Sanardo  was  the  pacemaker,  and  that  makes  his  perform- 
ance all  the  more  creditable  and  shows  that  he  merely  suc- 
cumbed to  superior  speed. 

He  was  not  able,  in  1921,  to  win  an  argument  from 
Single  G,  and  he  found  another  tough  problem  in  Hal 
Mahone,  who  beat  him  in  a  great  race  at  North  Randall 
in  which  the  time  was  slow,  for  the  mile  in  the  second  and 
third  heats,  but  in  which  every  final  quarter  was  paced  in 
291/4  to  29I/0  seconds.  The  first  heat  went  to  Sanardo  in 
2:01%.  It  was  late  when  he  evened  up  matters  with  Hal 
Mahone  but  he  did  it  in  good  style  by  beating  him  two  races 
at  Lexington.  There  were  five  miles  paced  in  the  two  races, 
Hal  Mahone  winning  the  second  heat  of  the  second  race,  and 
the  average  time  of  the  five  was  2:02^4. 

One  of  the  best  races  of  the  year  was  paced  by  Sanardo, 
and  won,  at  the  New  York  State  Fair,  and  in  that  race  he 
became  a  member  of  the  colony  of  two-minute  pacers,  tak- 
ing a  record  of  1:59%  in  the  second  heat.  That  race  gave 
him  the  honor  of  holding  the  world's  record  for  a  three-heat 
race  by  a  gelding.  At  Atlanta  he  was  started  to  beat  1:59, 
the  track  record,  and  while  he  did  not  succeed  he  did  pace 
the  mile  in  1:59%,  and  that  ended  his  work  for  the  year. 
His  score  shows  that  in  the  three  vears  he  has  been  raced 


2o6  THE    TWO-MINUTE    PACERS 

he  has  started  in  thirty-eight  events,  of  which  he  has  won 
nineteen — exactly  one-half. 

He  raced  about  as  lightly-equipped  as  to  boots  as  any 
horse  can  go,  wearing  nothing  but  quarter  boots.  He  was 
shod  in  front  with  4^  ounce  bar  shoes,  swedged  and  with 
full  pads  and  sponges.  His  hind  shoes  were  full  swedged 
bar  and  weighed  the  same  as  his  front  shoes.  The  front  toes 
were  3%>  inches  with  48  angle  and  the  hind  toes  were  3^ 
inches  with  52  angles.  An  open  bridle  and  plain  Stalker 
bit  completed  his  equipment. 

Sanardo  is  a  bay  gelding,  foaled  in  1914,  and  was  sired 
by  San  Francisco,  and  his  dam  is  Andorra  by  Mobel.  He 
was  bred  by  Walnut  Hall  Farm,  Donerail,  Ky. 


MR.  C.  K.  G.  BILLINGS 

World's  Leading  Amateur  Driver  Whose  Two-Minute 
Miles  are  Championships 

0  work  of  this  nature  would  be  complete  if  it  omitted 
mention  of  the  miles  in  two-minutes  or  better  that 
have  been  driven  by  the  distinguished  amateur  Mr. 
C.  K.  G.  Billings,  whose  record  in  that  respect  stands  alone. 

As  is,  perhaps,  well  known,  Mr.  Billings  did  not  race  his 
horses  for  purses.  They  were  what  may  best  be  described 
in  the  language  of  the  day  as  '"fun"  horses,  and  that  included 
Lou  Dillon,  Lhlan  and  William,  as  well  as  the  trotters  and 
pacers  he  owned  that  were  not  so  well  known. 

He  delighted  to  exhibit  his  great  horses  for  the  entertain- 
ment of  the  public  and  that  public  owe  him  a  debt  of  grati- 
tude that  is  not  easily  paid.  His  horses  were  trained  and 
shipped  at  much  expense  to  many  points  and  it  can  be  said 
for  them  that  they  seldom  disappointed. 

In  the  course  of  the  period  in  which  Mr.  Billings  main- 
tained his  stable  of  matinee  horses,  he  had  the  pleasure  of 
riding  three  different  miles  in  two-minutes  or  better,  some- 
thing no  other  amateur  ever  even  approached.  He  drove  to 
wagon  on  these  three  occasions  and  the  miles  were  as  fol- 
lows: Lou  Dillon  2:00;  Uhlan  2:00,  both  of  Avhich  are 
world's  records  and  William,  pacer,  l:59l/>  which  is  the 
worlds  amateur  record. 

When  in  1903  Lou  Dillon  trotted  her  two-minute  mile  to 
wagon  at  Memphis,  Tenn.,  with  Mr.  Billings  driving  the  best 
previous  record  for  a  trotter  at  that  style  of  hitch  was  her 
own  2:0134  which  she  had  made  at  Lexington,  with  Mr.  Bill- 
ings driving.  The  two-minute  mile  still  stands  as  the  world's 
record  for  trotters  to  wagon,  Uhlan  having  tied,  but  not  beat- 
en, it  in  1911.  Both  the  record  of  Lou  Dillon  and  that  of 
Uhlan  are  double  records,  no  professional  ever  having 
driven  a  trotter  to  wagon  as  fast  as  two-minutes  in  a  public 


2IO  MR.    C.    K.    G.    BILLINGS 

trial.  The  next  best  performance  by  a  trotter  to  wagon 
with  amateur  driver  is  the  2:02'>4  of  Lee  Axworthy  which 
mile  was  trotted  at  Lexington,  Ky.,  in  1916  with  Mr.  H.  K. 
Devereux  driving. 

In  addition  to  his  two-minute  miles  Mr.  Billings  holds 
the  race  record  for  trotters  to  wagon,  Lou  Dillon  having 
given  him  a  race  ride  in  2:04*%|^  and  as  she  won  both  heats 
of  her  race  in  that  time,  that  performance  gives  Mr.  Billings 
the  credit  of  having  driven  the  fastest  two-heat  race  to  wagon, 
by  a  trotter. 

Lou  Dillon  became  his  property  in  1903  and  he  never 
sold  her.  Uhlan  he  purchased  in  1910  and  the  gelding 
remains  his  property.  Both  were  taken  to  California  some 
years  ago  to  spend  the  remainder  of  their  days.  William 
was  kept  but  a  year  and  was  sold  to  Mr.  George  Crouch  of 
Lafayette,  Ind.,  going  back  into  the  hands  of  Billy  Marvin, 
the  man  who  brought  him  out. 


THE  TROTTING  CHAMPIONSHIPS  IN  FEET 

Lou    Dillon  at  44.556  ft.  per  second  trotted  5280  feet  in  l:58i/2 

Cresceus  at  43.19     ft.  per  second  trotted  5118  feet  in  l:S8V2 

Lou  Dillon  beat  Cresceus  162  feet 

Uhlan  at  44.755  ft.  per  second  trotted  5280  feet  in  1:58 

Lou    Dillon  at  44.566  ft.  per  second  trotted  5257.6  feet  in  1:58 

Uhlan  beat  Lou  Dillon  22.4  feet 

Peter  Manning  at  44.84     ft.  per  second  trotted  5280  feet  in  1:57% 

Uhlan  at  44.755  ft.  per  second  trotted  5268.88  feet  in  1:57% 

Peter  Manning  beat  Uhlan  11.12  feet 


1^ 

O 

O 

H 
D 


ON 

i-O 


O 

O 

c7i 


THE  \\  ORLD'S  CHAMPION  TWO-MINUTE 
HORSE  TRADE 

Involving  Lee  Axworthy  1:581/4  and  Prince  Loree  2:00 


From   an   interview  accorded  especially  for  publication    in 

this  volume. 


HEN  in  the  early  summer  of  1913  Walter  Cox  traded 
two  two-year-old  colts  to  the  Pastime  Stable  for 
Sir  Thomas  Lipton  2:121/4  ^i^d  $2,000,  there  was 
consummated  the  only  deal  so  far  recorded  in  the  history 
of  the  trotter  in  which  two  two-minute  performers,  both 
great  race  horses,  were  concerned.  The  colts  were  not  then 
two-minute  horses — indeed  they  were  just  colts,  and  there 
was  no  indication,  at  that  time,  that  either  of  them  would 
ever  be  worth  their  keep.  In  fact,  both  came  very  close  to 
fading  into  obscurity  when  they  were  three-year-olds.  But 
it  is  undoubtedly  true  that  given  the  opportunity  true  great- 
ness always  asserts  itself.  At  all  events  the  two  colts  be- 
came great  performers,  for  one  was  Lee  Axworthy  1:58^, 
world's  champion  trotting  stallion,  and  the  other  was  Prince 
Loree  2:03^4  trotting,  2:00  pacing,  a  Grand  Circuit  stake 
winner  at  both  gaits  and  also  a  world's  champion. 

The  details  of  this  famous  horse  trade  as  they  will  now 
be  presented  were  furnished  by  Mr.  P.  W.  Harvey,  of  Cleve- 
land, a  member  of  the  racing  syndicate  known  as  the  Pas- 
time Stable. 

The  members  of  that  now  famous  syndicate  had  no  colt 
training  ideas  in  mind  when  they  began  in  a  small  way 
with  a  racing  stable  on  the  Grand  Circuit.  They  had  made 
a  beginning  by  purchasing  among  others  the  trotter  Sir 
Thomas  Lipton,  which  in  his  races  the  year  prior  to  his  sale 
to  the  Cleveland  people  had  made  himself  look  like  a  "bear 
cat."  He  was  one,  but  not  at  the  races.  W.  J.  Andrews 
was   installed    as   trainer.      At   a   time   when   no    particular 


214  THE    WORLDS    CHAMPION 

policy  had  been  adopted  Walter  Cox  endeavored  to  sell  a 
little  bay  colt  to  the  syndicate.  His  horses  were  at  the  North 
Randall  track  getting  ready  for  the  opening  meeting  of  the 
Grand  Circuit  the  first  week  in  July,  1913.  As  had  always 
been  their  custom  when  Walter  arrived  the  Pastime  folks 
inspected  his  horses  in  their  stalls  and  then  watched  them 
in  their  work.  On  this  particular  year  Walter  endeavored 
to  interest  them  in  the  little  bay  colt.  They  saw  him  out 
on  the  track  one  day  and  Walter  was  unable  to  direct  his 
attention  to  anything  pertaining  to  the  race  course.  Instead 
he  gazed  at  the  birds,  looked  over  the  fence,  pricked  up  his 
ears  at  the  grey  team  pulling  a  float,  strutted  airily  as  a 
piece  of  paper  passed  him  flying  in  the  wind;  indeed  did 
everything  but  take  heed  of  his  lesson.  No  colt  had  a  better 
time,  no  colt  took  training  less  seriously.  And  that  appar- 
ently settled  one  fact — that  he  would  never  become  a  mem- 
ber of  the  Pastime  string. 

In  due  time  came  the  Detroit  meeting  and  Mr.  Coburn 
Haskell  and  Mr.  P.  W.  Harvey,  of  the  Pastime  syndicate, 
attended.  One  morning  Walter  hailed  them  and  said:  "I'm 
going  to  give  that  colt  a  record  today."  And  he  did.  The 
mile  was  trotted  in  2:28  or  slower  and  the  colt  did  not  make 
more  than  two  breaks.  After  the  performance  Walter  found 
his  prospective  customers  and  inquired:  "How  do  you  like 
him?"  The  only  possible  reply  was  made  and  it  was  in 
substance:    "There  is  nothing  about  him  to  like." 

But  Walter  must  have  seen  something  in  him  to  like 
for  he  talked  about  him  as  though  he  believed  he  had  a 
fairly  bright  future  and  he  did  not  let  anything  in  the  way 
of  a  rebuff  move  him  from  his  determination.  The  Cleve- 
land gentlemen  were  leaving  Detroit  that  evening.  As  they 
neared  the  door  of  their  hotel  on  the  way  to  the  night  boat 
they  met  Walter  again  and  his  query  to  them  was:  "Ain't 
you  fellows  going  to  buy  that  colt?"  The  answer  was  the 
familiar  two-letter  word.  "Well,"  he  retorted,  "you  ought 
to,  and  I've  got  another  one  up  home,  the  same  age;  he's  a 
corker.  Had  to  make  a  gelding  of  him  or  I'd  have  him 
along,  ril  sell  you  either  of  them  for  $1500  or  I'll  sell 
you  both  of  them  for  $2500." 


TWO-MINUTE    HORSE    TRADE 


215 


And  one  of  the  syndicate  gentlemen  ventured  the  opinion 
that  the  price  was  too  high  for  "that  little  scrub;"  then  he 
went  on  to  say:  "I  will  tell  you  what  we  will  do.  We  have 
a  great  race  horse,  Sir  Thomas  Lipton.  But  he  is  a  puzzle 
to  us.  What  he  needs  is  some  one  to  solve  him.  He  went 
some  great  races  but  'Billy'  cannot  solve  his  problem.  We 
will  trade  you  that  horse  for  your  two  colts." 

"Like  hell  you  will,"  retorted  Walter,  then  added:  "I 
suppose  a  problem  Bill  Andrews  can't  solve  would  be  dead 
easy  for  me." 

He  was  quiet  for  a  moment  and  then  said:  "I'll  give 
you  those  two  colts  for  Sir  Thomas  Lipton  and  $2,000;  is 
it  a  trade  or  not?" 

"Good  night!"  shouted  both  of  the  Cleveland  men  and 
away  they  rushed  for  their  boat.  The  night  was  a  fine  one 
and  they  sat  on  deck  until  late  talking  about  the  colts.  Sir 
Thomas  Lipton  had  become  a  veritable  thorn  in  the  flesh, 
and  that  means  the  flesh  of  everybody  who  had  anything  to 
do  with  him,  and  they  were  ready  to  bid  him  farewell  with 
never  a  tear  in  any  eye.  Besides  the  fact  appeared  to  have 
stuck  in  the  heads  of  the  men  on  the  boat  that  there  must 
be  something  about  the  colts  that  was  worth  while.  They 
were  more  than  well  bred  and  in  addition  here  was  a  chance 
to  get  two  colts  for  no  great  sum  and  at  the  same  time  pull 
the  thorn  before  every  one  was  compelled  to  treat  festered 
wounds.  They  might  not  make  the  situation  any  better  but 
they  could  not  possibly  make  it  any  worse.  Then  again,  it 
is  not  unlikely  that  something  Walter  had  said  about  the 
black  colt  back  at  Dover  had  taken  pretty  deep  root  and 
made  them  want  him.  These  two  had  wanted  colts;  Billy 
Andrews  had  wanted  colts.  So  next  morning  they  hurried 
to  North  Randall  to  take  the  matter  up  with  Mr.  Devereux, 
another  member  of  the  Pastime  Syndicate.  They  told  him 
of  the  off^er  they  had  made  and  of  the  counter  proposition 
and  urged  that  with  two  colts  they  would  have  something 
to  look  forward  to.  After  a  certain  amount  of  delil^eration 
Mr.  Devereux  said:  "Walter  likes  a  gamble;  wire  him  you 
will  toss  a  coin  to  decide  whether  we  give  him  $1500  or 
$2000  to  boot." 


2l6  THE    world's    CHAMPION 

The  telegram  was  sent  and  then  Mr.  Andrews  was  called 
by  telephone  for  the  purpose  of  talking  it  over  with  him. 
He  furnished  this  information:  "I  was  driving  a  race  this 
afternoon  and  had  dismounted  and  was  on  my  way  to  the 
barn  when  I  heard  some  one  hailing  me  as  if  he  had  a  life 
or  death  matter  on  his  hands.  He  was  waving  a  telegram 
at  me  and  I  saw  it  was  Cox.  He  was  coming  on  the  dead 
run.  He  showed  me  the  message  from  you,  pulled  a  quarter 
out  of  his  pocket,  flipped  it  up  and  you  owe  him  $2,000." 

That  week  in  company  with  Uncle  Biff"  and  Robert 
Milroi  the  ''little  scrub"  was  shipped  by  boat  from  Detroit 
to  Cleveland,  and  so  Lee  Axworthy  became  a  member  of 
the  Pastime  Stable.  There  was  more  or  less  concern  as  to 
how  the  youngster  would  stand  the  awful  morning  racket  at 
the  Cleveland  dock  and  the  overland  journey  to  North 
Randall  through  the  great  traffic  of  the  Ohio  metropolis. 
Henry  Knowles  was  commissioned  to  lead  him  or  have  him 
led  behind  his  light  wagon,  and  no  horse  ever  had  so  good 
a  time.  The  racket  at  the  dock  interested  him  greatly,  there 
was  much  to  see  on  the  way  to  North  Randall,  and  through 
it  all  Lee  Axworthy  toddled  along,  missing  nothing  and 
never  showing  the  slightest  sign  of  fright.  It  might  be  stated 
here  that  he  was  just  that  way  all  his  life  and  as  Ben  White 
says  in  his  story  about  him  in  this  volume  he  was  a  good 
feeder  and  a  good  doer,  always  and  everywhere.  More  of 
that  appears  further  along  in  this  story. 

The  little  fellow  was  put  in  Mr.  Devereux's  barn  and 
Harvey  Shorts  exercised  him  until  fall.  Once  a  week  or 
oftener  Mr.  Harvey  drove  him  and  he  says  that  he  never  was 
able  to  drive  him  a  full  mile  at  the  trot.  He  did  not  know 
he  was  at  school  or  else  he  did  not  know  that  Mr.  Harvey 
was  the  teacher.  Finally,  one  day,  the  colt  allowed  himself 
to  be  "shooed"  around  the  mile  track  in  about  2:50  and  in 
that  mile  there  flashed  the  first  ray  of  hope.  The  colt 
had  trotted  into  the  stretch  and  was  nearing  the  seven-eighths 
pole  when  he  suddenly  turned  on  some  steam.  His  teacher 
looked  down  to  see  if  he  was  running  or  had  stuck  to  the 
trot  and  finding  him  trotting  wondered  what  had  changed 
him  so  suddenly.     Ahead  he  saw  the  white  horses  pulling  a 


TWO-MINUTE    HORSE    TRADE  217 

harrow  and  thought  they  had  caused  the  commotion;  just 
then  he  heard  a  horse  coming  at  them  from  behind,  one 
that  was  stepping  at  a  fast  clip.  The  horse  behind  and  Lee 
Axworthy  reached  the  wire  together — the  other  was  the  fast 
mare  Ruby  K.  with  M.  McDevitt  driving.  Mike  inquired 
the  name  of  the  little  fellow^  and  when  he  was  told  he  was 
a  two-year-old  that  had  recently  been  bought  he  expressed 
his  doubt  with  the  familiar  expression,  "Go  on,"  and  went 
his  way.  Two  weeks  later  Harvey  Shorts  reported  that  he 
had  the  same  experience  except  that  he  had  been  carried  to 
the  quarter  pole  from  the  wire.  These  two  little  incidents 
were  believed  to  be  proof  that  Walter  Cox  had  been  shown 
something  of  the  same  kind  or  he  would  not  have  kept  on 
training  the  colt. 

That  fall  the  colt  was  shipped  with  the  other  horse  to 
Thomasville  and  while  he  was  worked  with  steadily,  the  last 
of  March  had  arrived  before  Mr.  Andrews  was  able  to  get 
him  to  go  a  full  mile  on  the  trot.  He  simply  would  not 
learn.  Side  poles,  side  straps  and  everything  that  appeared 
to  be  worth  while  found  a  place  in  his  rigging  at  some  time 
during  the  winter  and  early  spring.  Billy  Andrews  had  a 
fertile  brain  and  he  would  try  anything  that  appeared  to 
have  a  reason  for  its  use.  Along  in  late  March  or  perhaps 
it  was  in  April  the  colt  trotted  a  mile  in  about  2:30  and 
never  lifted  his  nose.  When  his  trainer  brought  him  in  he 
exultantly  shouted:  "Fve  got  him".  From  that  time  on  he 
made  but  one  break  in  a  race,  which  was  at  Kalamazoo  when 
he  was  bumped  into  in  a  stake  for  three-year-olds.  He  made 
two  or  three  breaks  in  scoring  that  day  but  that  was  in 
efforts  to  get  away  from  a  bad  actor. 

From  all  of  which  it  appears  that  with  Lee  Axworthy  it 
was  not  so  much  a  matter  of  rigging  to  make  him  trot  as  it 
was  a  matter  of  inclination.  It  may  be  that  Mr.  Andrews 
finally  got  him  "hung  up"  so  that  he  was  quite  comfortable 
and  he  is  entitled  to  great  credit  for  his  perseverance  and 
his  display  of  great  ability  for  without  them  Lee  Axworthy 
would  have  been  sold  at  work  horse  price.  But  there  may  be 
something  in  the  belief  that  the  colt  suddenly  discovered 
that  he  had  a  career  before  him  and  that  having  had  his  play 


21 8  THE    world's    CHAMPION 

he  was  ready  for  carrying  out  the  intention  of  Nature  and 
he  went  at  it  in  splendid  style. 

In  this  connection  it  is  well  worth  while  to  tell  the  story 
which  Charles  (''Doc")  Tanner  loves  so  well  to  tell  on  him- 
self. To  fully  understand  its  import  one  must  remember 
that  "Billy"  Andrews  appeared  to  have  set  his  heart  on 
making  a  trotter  of  Lee  Axworthy  and  the  mental  torture 
through  which  he  suffered  was  not  suspected  at  the  time,  nor 
will  some  of  the  inside  history  of  the  matter  ever  be  dis- 
closed because  it  is  nobody's  business.  Be  that  as  it  may, 
Tanner  took  a  great  interest  in  everything  connected  with  the 
winter  training  operations  at  Thomasville  and  he  had,  with 
his  keen  eye,  discovered  that  Andrews  had  a  tough  problem 
not  only  but  that  he  had  evidently  made  up  his  mind  that  he 
would  solve  it  or  die  in  the  attempt. 

One  day,  it  was  about  the  middle  of  March,  Tanner  took 
"Billy"  to  one  side,  led  him  to  a  secluded  spot  back  of  the 
barn  where  no  other  ears  could  catch  a  word  and  said  to 
him : 

"Don't  take  these  fellows'  money  for  training  a  thing 
like  that;  he  is  nothing  but  a  piece  of  meat;  put  a  halter  on 
him,  hand  it  to  the  first  black  man  that  comes  along  and  tell 
him  to  lead  him  as  far  away  as  he  can  go  and  keep  him." 

History  does  not  record  what  Andrews  said  in  reply  but 
it  does  bear  in  plain  words  the  fact  that  inside  of  a  very 
few  days  the  "piece  of  meat"  set  his  head  and  went  to  trot- 
ting and  it  further  records  that  what  he  finally  did  was  far 
more  and  far  greater  than  any  other  stallion  ever  did. 

He  took  a  record  of  2:08  in  his  first  race,  which  was 
as  a  three-year-old,  and  he  never  needed  any  racing  educa- 
tion. But,  great  doer  and  hearty  feeder  as  he  was,  he  had 
some  periods  of  ailing  that,  while  never  particularly  ser- 
ious, did  cause  a  heap  of  anxiety  and  sometimes  required 
patient  treatment.  One  of  the  anxious  hours  was  at  North 
Randall  when  he  warmed  up  for  the  first  race  of  his  four- 
year-old  career  and  suddenly  went  lame  behind,  unable  to 
put  one  hind  foot  to  the  ground.  Mr.  Andrews  tried  to  draw 
him  and  went  to  the  judges — for  the  race  had  been  called — 
and  made  his  request.     Under  the  rules  he  was  required  to 


TWO-MINUTE    HORSE    TRADE 


219 


bring  the  trotter  out  for  inspection,  and  was  asked  to  take 
liim  up  the  stretch  a  short  distance,  turn  him  and  jog  to  the 
wire.  He  did  as  directed  and  the  second  time  he  turned 
him  the  lameness  disappeared,  the  colt  started  and  won,  trot- 
ting to  a  record  of  2:0514  and  did  not  take  another  lame  step. 

That  was  not  to  be  the  end  of  his  troubles.  The  next 
morning  a  flabby  swelling  appeared  on  the  inside  of  his 
right  fore  leg  extending  across  the  right  side  of  his  breast 
and  down  to  the  knees.  That  was  a  new  one  on  all  concerned 
but  finally  it  was  decided  to  try  to  steam  it  out  and  that  plan 
worked  all  right.  It  was  a  new  experience  for  Lee  but  it 
is  recorded  that  from  the  very  first  he  never  as  much  as 
moved  a  foot  and  would  stand  for  hours  taking  the  treatment. 

He  was  a  veritable  hog  for  feed.  He  would  go  at  his 
oats  so  ravenously  that  they  would  be  thrown  out  of  the  feed 
box  into  the  bedding  all  around  him.  But  he  did  not  allow 
them  to  go  to  waste.  After  he  had  cleared  the  feed  box  he 
would  put  in  the  rest  of  the  time,  if  nothing  else  was  asked 
of  him,  rooting  around  in  the  bedding  until  he  found  and 
ate  the  very  last  of  the  spilled  oats. 

There  are  innumerable  stories  about  him  and  some  of 
them  in  addition  to  the  above  will  be  found  in  the  chapter 
in  this  volume  dealing  with  his  training  but  to  those  who 
owned  him  and  who  knew  him  best,  the  most  marvelous 
thing  about  him  was  that  he  was  a  perfect  racing  tool  from 
the  very  beginning  and  that  was  best  exemplified  in  his  win- 
ning race  for  the  M.  and  M.  Purse  at  Detroit.  He  took  the 
lead  at  the  word  in  the  first  heat  and  kept  it.  In  the  second 
heat  he  got  the  word  with  enough  horses  ahead  of  him  to 
compel  him  to  race  in  the  bunch  and  there  he  stayed  until 
well  into  the  stretch  when  he  was  pulled  out  and  won  at  the 
wire  from  Peter  Scott.  The  third  heat  Peter  McCormick  went 
away  in  the  lead  and  Lee  contentedly  trailed  him  until  time  to 
set  sail  for  the  money  and  won  heat  and  race. 

There  might  })e  written  some  interesting  Lee  Axworthy- 
"Billy"  Andrews  stories  about  that  big  event  in  the  lives  of 
l^oth  but  perhaps  it  will  be  just  as  well  to  say  that  after  the 
first  heat  ''Billy"  was  quite  downcast  though  he  had  won  the 
round  for  he  declared  that  the  clip  in  the  stretch  had  made 


220  THE    WORLD  S    CHAMPION 

his  horse  try  to  go  to  a  pace.  But  after  the  second  heat  in 
2:04'%^  he  was  smiles  all  over  and  from  that  day  never  lost 
faith  in  his  great  pupil. 

In  closing,  the  sad  chapter  written  by  fate  in  the  lives  of 
this  great  man  and  horse  at  the  New  York  State  Fair  may 
be  briefly  mentioned.  The  day  was  one  of  sizzling  heat  and 
Lee  had  an  attack  similar  to  blind  staggers  after  winning  the 
first  heat  in  2:05^.  Mr.  Andrews  tried  to  draw  him  but 
failed  to  get  the  consent  of  the  judges  and  it  was  with 
extreme  difficulty  that  the  horse  was  brought  on  the  track  for 
the  second  heat.  But  when  he  got  out  where  the  business  in 
hand  was  to  be  looked  after  he  pointed  his  ears,  scored  up 
like  the  real  trotter  he  was  and  won  the  second  heat.  And 
then  his  driver  said:  "No  matter  what  happens  to  me  I'm 
going  to  let  this  little  horse  go  where  wants  to  go  in  this  third 
heat;  I  do  not  intend  to  drive  him  a  step  nor  speak  to  him." 
He  kept  his  word  and  in  spite  of  that  was  beaten  but  a  short 
neck.  The  loss  of  the  heat  made  no  material  diff^erence  for 
it  was  a  three-heat  event  and  had  been  won  in  the  first  two 
heats. 

Lee  Axworthy  recovered  from  the  experiences  of  that 
day  but  Mr.  Andrews  did  not  and  they  practically  ended 
his  career  as  one  of  the  greatest  trainers  ever  identified  with 
the  light-harness  horse. 

Prince  Loree,  as  already  stated,  passed  to  the  hands  of 
Mike  McDevitt  and  he,  too,  became  a  world's  champion  with 
a  trotting  race  record  of  2:0314  ^i^d  a  pacing  record  of 
2:00,  making  him  the  world's  double-gaited  champion. 


5ter  Family  Library  of  Veterinary  MedicinQ 
nings  School  of  Veterinary  Medicine  at 

Universitv 


\Tct'^<  W^'^^m 


■V  ,o   ■■■      '^' 


